The Day of A New Tratie
by percabethanpuckabrinaforevs
Summary: Katie's cabin is sick, so Aphrodite decides to help out. She turns Katie into a little girl so that she can grow back into her own age in a few weeks, perfectly healthy. But a four year old can't stay at home alone! And what happens when the babysitter is a certain son of Hermes we all know?
1. Chapter 1

**This is a new story, with a little kid in it. Of course. I don't own PJO, though I really wish I do.**

**Katie**

Katie coughed once, sniffed twice, and then got back to gardening. She pushed her brown hair off of her green eyes and sighed. She was tired, but she was also the only one working in her garden. The rest of the Demeter cabin was in sick.

Katie was the only one who was in any condition to even try to work in the garden, and there was absolutely no way that she was going to let it grow out of control. Even in her weakened state, the plants thrived under her touch.

She coughed again, and then decided to call it a day. She went back to her cabin to tend to her sick cabin mates. Chiron had asked them to heal in their own time instead of using ambrosia or a healer so that they could gain better immunity and be able to survive during winter or if they just got sick outside of camp.

Katie helped her siblings, and then went out for dinner. As she walked, the ground seemed to swim between her eyes. Suddenly, her world went dark.

When she woke up, she was in an enormous bedroom. There was a woman – the most beautiful woman Katie had ever seen, sitting calmly on a throne. She smiled down at Katie, and she almost grew dizzy again at the sight of the lady's dazzling smile.

"Hello, Katie." The lady spoke. Her voice was like thick honey, oozing on top of Katie.

"Hello, Lady Aphrodite." Katie managed a weak bow.

Aphrodite smiled slightly. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I know you and your cabin are having health issues. I have decided to help you, whisk away your siblings to an Olympus hospital for a month, and fix you all right up. However, there still needs to be one child of Demeter in camp. I thought, perhaps, I could give you a crash course in fixing up your health, and leave you at camp while your family let's nature take its course."

Katie grinned. "I would like that very much, Lady Aphrodite."

Aphrodite beamed. "This won't hurt a bit, but it may have some unusual side effects. You'll wake up in the Big House.

Katie's smiled dimmed just a little. What did she mean by unusual side effects?

Before she had a chance to ask, once again, she saw nothing but black.

She woke up in a bed in the Big House. She sat up. Why did the room look so big?

Katie glanced at herself in a mirror hanging on the wall, and screamed.

She looked like a baby! She was four years old! What was happening? Why was she four years old?

Someone opened the door, and Chiron trotted in.

"Ah, Katie. I see you've woken up, and discovered that when Lady Aphrodite means fix you up, she means turn you several years younger and wait for a few weeks while you grow up. You'll be fine by the end of the month." Chiron explained. "You need to rest now. I'll come back later, after we figure out who will take care of you while you gain your age back."

Katie lay down sleepily, silently trying to cope with the fact that she was four again.

**Travis**

Chiron had called the entire cabin inside the Big House and had explained what had happened to their arch enemies, the Demeter cabin. Now, everyone was sitting in a shocked silence, trying to get the fact that Katie was a little girl wrapped around their minds.

"So, I am asking you to take her in for a few weeks. Just a little while, really." Chiron finished.

Everyone turned to look at Travis, because they all knew about his secret crush on Katie Gardener. Connor has a big mouth.

"I guess, it wouldn't be too bad. I mean, she's four, right? How much trouble could a four year old _Katie Gardener_ be?" Travis muttered.

Everyone nodded. Yes, Katie was a sweetheart. She wouldn't be too much trouble.

"But, Travis, you are so in charge of her." Connor voted.

Everyone nodded. "Your idea." They agreed.

"Whatever. You guys will help me, right?" Travis asked.

Everyone looked away guiltily. Travis frowned.

"Glad I can count on my family." He grumbled.

"Is it a yes?" Chiron asked.

"Yes." Travis sighed.

Chiron turned to go inside, presumably to tell Katie. A minute later, a loud scream was heard throughout the camp.

"NO! NOT THE HERMES CABIN!" Katie shrieked. Travis winced visibly.

"I'm sorry, Katie, but the Athena cabin just didn't have time, the Poseidon cabin is on a quest right now, and the Apollo cabin is scared of you. They were the only people we knew you would be remotely comfortable with." Chiron reasoned.

"Anything but them. I'll stay in the Big House! I'll live alone! Not the Hermes Cabin!" Katie howled. "I'll stay with the Aphrodite kids! Please!"

Chiron dragged in a kicking and screaming Katie. Travis couldn't help but stare. Her thick brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her big green eyes were filled to the brim with tears that were threatening to spill over any minute. She was wearing a blue T-shirt, and jeans, with sneakers. She looked cute as a kid.

She stopped screaming when she saw them, but she still held her place.

"Hi, Kit-Kat Katie." Travis waved.

Katie glared at him. "Don't call me that."

Travis chuckled slightly. Her threatening gaze looked adorable on her small face.

**Katie**

She was going to be stuck with Travis Stoll! This was a nightmare! How was she going to cope with this? Wait, a second. This was Travis Stoll she was going to be with. As in, the guy who always acted so immature, she got frustrated when she just saw him. So if he had to take care of her, why not make it as miserable for him as possible?

Katie slightly brightened at that thought, but she didn't let it show on her face.

"Come on, Katie. Do you have any clothes you want to bring or pack?" Chiron prodded her gently.

"None that fit." Katie snapped.

"Well, I think Drew from the Aphrodite cabin can deal with that for you." Chiron suggested.

"I don't like Drew." Katie said flatly.

"Perhaps, Travis could take you shopping?" Chiron looked over to him, who shook his head quickly.

"Well, maybe you can find something from one of your sisters?" Chiron recommended.

"None of them are four." Katie reminded him.

"Well, perhaps you can go to training practice, which is where the Hermes Cabin should be right now?" Chiron proposed.

"Do you have a sword for someone my size?" Katie muttered.

"Why don't you just go with the Hermes Cabin back to their cabin?" Even Chiron was starting to sound exasperated.

Katie grabbed onto his leg.

"No! Don't make me go!" She cried.

"Katie…" Chiron started gently. He looked up and gave the Hermes Cabin a helpless look.

"Well, that's all fine and cool, but I want to get home. Hey, maybe I should take the shortcut, since all of the Demeter kids won't be here to stop me…" Travis started out the door.

Katie may have a lot going on, but nothing was going to stop her from protecting her garden.

"TRAVIS STOLL! DON'T YOU DARE GO NEAR MY CABIN!" Katie screamed. She hurled herself after him.

He kept an eye on her distance, always slowing down when Katie dipped in her speed. He went fast enough so that Katie couldn't catch up, but slow enough so that she could keep him in sight. The rest of the cabin followed the little girl slowly.

"Brilliant idea, Travis." Travis muttered to himself.

Katie dashed after Travis, until they reached the Demeter cabin.

"Don't cut through!" Katie panted hard. She finally reached him, and caught her breath.

"Being a kid take out the stamina you had?" Travis teased.

She stuck out her tongue at him. "You would know."

"Come on. Are you sure you really don't have any more clothes in your cabin?" Travis asked.

"Of course I'm sure." Katie confirmed.

"Let's go head over to the Aphrodite cabin, then." Travis stated.

"No! I hate Drew. I'd rather stay in these clothes for the rest of my life then ask her for a favor." Katie grouched.

"Fine, you don't ask her for a favor, I'll ask. In fact, I'll do all the talking. You just stand by the side and wait in case she needs measurements." Travis suggested.

"No." Katie said stubbornly.

"Or you could head over to my cabin and wait for me to come back with somebody to take your measurements." Travis continued.

Katie sighed. "I'll come with you."

"Good. Hey guys, you can head back to the cabin. It's free time now. We're going to head over and see if we can find Katie any clothes." Travis informed the rest of his cabin.

"Have fun." Connor winked. "You just love her, don't you, Katie?"

"I hate her." Katie corrected absently. She hadn't noticed that Connor had been teasing.

**Travis**

Katie was really upset about having to go to the Aphrodite cabin, because the full way she kept confirming what she had to do.

"So then I'll stand on your right, kind of out of sight, and wait. If she doesn't need any measurements, then I'll try for her to not see me. If she does, then I'll let her see me, but I won't say anything." Katie mumbled.

"Just relax Kit-Kat Katie. Let me do the talking." Travis reassured her.

"That's what's scaring me the most." Katie grumbled.

One knock at the door was all it took before it was thrown open by an angry Angelica.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"We're here because this certain young girl doesn't have any clothes that really fit her, and we were hoping that someone here could help get her something to wear." Travis smiled brightly.

Angelica flipped her long, golden hair over her shoulders and beamed, the rage from her eyes fading away.

"I'd love to. I'd don't need measurements, just give me two minutes." Angelica ran back inside, shutting the door on their faces.

"At least it wasn't Drew." Katie breathed a sigh of relief.

Travis shook his head, looking down at her. His mop of curly brown hair hung in his brown eyes, stubbornly refusing to move.

"I could always call Drew for you." Travis teased.

Katie stuck out her tongue childishly.

"Here!" Angelica stuck out her head, handing Travis a pink bag, embroidered with the letter K on it. "The bag used to be Kathy's, but she says you can have it."

"Thank you." Travis smiled at her.

"K for Katie." Travis said, as soon as they were out of earshot from Angelica.

"Shut up." Katie grumbled.

They walked back to the Hermes Cabin silently. Katie didn't have anything to say, and she could tell Travis knew that anything he had to say wasn't important.

**Katie **

Her plan was simple, really. It was all about getting Travis back for all the pranks he pulled on her. She would act really childish, as much as she could. She would make his life miserable, doing everything in her power to contradict him. Of course, Katie wasn't exactly very good at being mean. She kept telling herself she was waiting for the right minute to begin, but she knew it wasn't true. She had no idea how to start, and the only person she would ask for help was the person she was trying to irritate.

Right now, she was going through her bag of clothes. She had pretty much taken over the bathroom, which wasn't too much of a problem for the Hermes Cabin, since it was full of boys who weren't the least bit ashamed to go to a different cabin and ask to use their bathroom. Katie was actually the only girl in the cabin.

Unfortunately for her, every piece of clothing fit, and also unfortunately, it was all pink. None of the clothes were good enough for gardening in, and none of them were the usual, dark, non-attention catching colored clothes that she normally wore. Although, she had to admit, the clothes did look nice on more, almost morphing into something that she looked good in, she was four. Who the Hades was she going to try to impress at this age?

**I just wanted to try it out. Sorry that this one is so long. Let me know if you want me to continue this… I'll do my best!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own PJO. I have decided to continue this, at least for a little while, because I just can't get it out of my head.**

**Travis**

At last, Katie came out of the bathroom. She had her bag in one hand, and a disgusted expression on her face.

"The clothes are horrible." Katie snapped.

"Which means, in normal words, the clothes are wonderful?" Travis asked.

Katie threw her bag on his bed. "Yes."

"So you just don't like them?" Travis watched with an amused expression as Katie tried to hoist herself onto the bed.

"Pretty much." Katie tried again.

Travis leaned over and casually flipped her onto the bed.

"I could have gotten on by myself." Katie felt her cheeks get red.

"Uh-huh. Anyway, we're going down to dinner in a few minutes." Travis smirked.

Katie felt her hopes ride up. Here was her chance!

"I'm not hungry." She stubbornly crossed her arms.

"You have to eat something. Otherwise, you won't sleep tonight." Travis pointed out.

"I don't care. I'm not hungry." Then of course, being the most perfect at timings, Katie's stomach growled. Nothing was going to stop it from its food.

Travis laughed. "I guess that answers our argument."

Katie made a face at him. "Well, fine, I'll come to dinner, but I'm not going to eat anything."

Suddenly, Connor entered the cabin. "Hey, guys! Hey, Katie! Check this out; I totally got the best prank to play on the Aphrodite cabin, Travis!"

"I don't want to hear this." Katie stood up and jumped off of the bed, but Connor caught her in midair.

"Hey!" Katie tried to squirm away, but Connor dropped her back on the bed.

"Come on, Kit Kat Katie. I don't want you to run away before dinner. I know I won't find you until we're ready for bed. At least this way I can keep an eye on you." Travis explained.

"Well, I don't want to listen to your dumb pranks." Katie mumbled.

"Ouch, hurtful!" Connor fell over, as if she had just stabbed him.

Katie rolled her eyes. They were _so_ immature.

"Fine, we won't talk about our pranks, just don't get out of my sight." Travis compromised.

"Okay, fine." Katie lay back down and pushed her feet into Connor's stomach.

"So, well, there's this new kid in the Ares cabin, but he's scrawny and weak. His name's Freddie something or the other. Think we should mess with him a little?" Connor asked.

"Sounds good. What do you have in mind?" Travis smirked.

Katie kicked Connor in the stomach lightly. "You're not supposed to be talking about pranks in front of me!"

He grabbed her hands and pinned them down.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" He asked.

Travis leaned over and tapped his forehead against hers. Katie could almost feel her face get red.

"Maybe we should…tickle you!" He yelled.

He suddenly started tickling her. Katie screamed and squirmed against Connor's hands, holding her down, but she couldn't break free. Travis continued to tickle her, and she giggling and screeched.

"Let me go!" She panted when Travis stopped tickling her.

"I think you want more." Travis wiggled his eyebrows and starting up again.

"No! No, stop!" Katie begged.

Travis looked at Connor, and then back at Katie.

"I think you should say something before we stop." He decided.

"Please! Please stop!" Katie yelled, but Travis started right up again.

"Say, Travis and Connor are the best." Connor ordered.

"Travis…and Connor…are the best!" Katie screeched. She burst into giggles when Travis didn't stop.

"No, I don't think that's good enough." Travis smirked. "Let's see…what else should you say?"

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Katie laughed. Tears were pouring down her face now, because she was laughing so hard.

"What are you guys doing?" Chris Rodriguez walked over.

"Oh, nothing much." Connor shrugged.

Chris raised his eyebrows, looking at a helplessly laughing Katie.

"Stop! Make them stop!" Katie cried.

"Okay, guys, I think that's enough." Chris suggested.

"No way! If we can't work on our pranks in front of her, then we are stuck doing other things. We may as well do this." Connor moved so that when Katie struck out with her legs, it didn't hit anyone.

"Please! You can work!" Katie desperately pleaded.

Travis let her up slowly.

"Alright." He sang.

Katie wiped away the wet drops on her cheeks.

"I hate you." She glared at him. Connor once again reached for her, and she fell back screeching.

"Okay, we're done." Travis promised.

"Time for dinner!" Connor leaped off the bed and rushed out the door.

Travis held out his hand to help Katie off the bed. She smacked it away and carefully started stepping down, feeling for the floor with her feet, and gripping the top of the blankets tightly.

"At this rate, sweetheart, we're going to get to dinner tomorrow morning." Travis sighed.

Katie glared at him for calling her 'sweetheart.'

Travis just rolled his eyes. He slid one arm under her stomach and smoothly picked her up. He carried her like one would with a baby, with one arm underneath her like a chair, and the other arm around her back, her legs kicking freely by his hips.

"Hey!" She protested, pulling away angrily.

"Hey what?" Travis asked innocently.

"Put me down!" Katie snapped.

"If I put you down, you would only run away, or at the very least, you would take forever to get to dinner. I'll just take you there nice and quick." Travis shut the door to the cabin, and then followed his siblings. Katie tried to get loose of Travis's iron grip on her, but as was told, it was an iron grip. She felt completely humiliated, being carried as if she was four years old. Wait, she was four years old.

At least her stomach was pleased to be going to dinner. Katie had already decided that she wouldn't eat anything, so that Travis would get annoyed, but her stomach denied every battle plan her brain kept thinking up with another growl.

"Come on!" Connor urged.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Travis laughed. He shifted Katie into just one arm and grabbed Connor with the other. "Gods, slow down, Connor, you're going to knock into someone!"

Connor snorted. "Well, they should know better than to keep a hungry Connor from dinner."

Katie wriggled around, but Travis didn't forget to hold on to her.

"Hang on, Katie, we're almost there." He told her gently.

She stuck out her tongue again, but Travis didn't notice.

Finally, the dining pavilion came into sight.

Travis set her down, but he snatched up her hand and yanked her over to the Hermes table when she started moving towards the Demeter table.

"I don't want to sit here." Katie whispered to him.

"Well, I'm not going to single us out and sit at the Demeter table either. At least, here we have cover." Travis described.

He handed her a plate full of food and then started for the fire. Katie followed, and behind her was Connor.

That was a bad idea. As soon as Travis finished, Connor leaned over Katie and scraped off some of his food into the fire. Some landed in her hair, and she growled at him.

"So scary." Connor shuddered teasingly.

Katie went back to the Hermes table and pushed her plate away from her.

"I'm not hungry." She reminded Travis.

"Eat something, because your stomach is telling me otherwise." He told her, digging into his own food.

Katie sighed. Her plan wasn't working at all! She started eating.

**Thanks anyway for the reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own PJO. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, my laptop was returned and it took a while for someone in my house to bring home a laptop or computer with Microsoft or any other thing that I could use to update. Anyway, I'm going to make my chapters a little shorter from now on, because it's easier to handle. Hey! I just realized that NOW is OWN in different letters! Cool!**

**Travis**

Katie started eating ferociously, stabbing her spaghetti like it had done something to her. Travis watched with an amused expression. She was really something.

After dinner, he let her walk back to the cabin by herself. She looked angrier then tired, all though Travis figured maybe she was angry _because_ she was tired.

"Lights out will be in ten minutes!" Travis yelled out. Then he looked at the girl he was supposed to be babysitting.

"Where do you want to sleep?" He asked her gently.

She shrugged.

"How about the floor?" Connor smirked.

She glared at him. "Not the floor.

"Do you want to sleep on my bed?" Travis asked.

"Are you sleeping on the floor?" Katie crossed her arms.

"Um, no…" Travis trailed off.

"Okay, you sleep with Connor, and Katie can have your bed." Chris Rodriguez shouted from across the loud cabin.

"No way!" Connor yelled. "He'll shove me off the bed in his sleep!"

"So you're admitting that even in my sleep I'm stronger than you?" Travis grinned.

"Nope! You're still a weakling." Connor faltered. He looked upset that Travis had found a hold over him.

**Katie **

Katie was feeling sleepy even before the whole "who sleeps where" argument started. She wasn't too happy with the chaos erupting in the cabin. She climbed on Travis's bed and lay down. Almost immediately, she felt her eyes close, and she felt her breathing even.

Travis glanced down at her, and then motioned for the rest of the cabin to hush down.

"Lights out." He whispered, before climbing over Connor and laying down next to his brother.

**Um, yeah. LOL.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay all you Tratie fans, it is time for some more Tratie! I do not own PJO, by the way, or I would so be working on the Mark of Athena. I can't wait to have it come out yet! I am SOOOOO excited, and also really worried that my mom won't let me buy it the day it comes out. Oh well, that's a problem for another day. For now, let's just quit listening to me chat!**

**Katie's POV**

Katie woke up feeling tired. She remembered everything from the day before crystal clear, and she was kind of hoping that it was just a nightmare. She glanced around, and then realized that she was in the Hermes Cabin.

She felt like screaming angrily, but she just calmly turned over on her side. You couldn't be a cabin counselor if you got mad every time something didn't go your way.

Almost half of the cabin was already up. Travis was still fast asleep, but Connor and his other brothers were getting ready. Katie wasn't sure that she should do anything, so she just kept her eyes closed and pretended to sleep. She silently prayed to her mother that they wouldn't try to prank her as she slept.

They didn't. Connor had been planning to throw some freezing over water on Travis, but he woke up before his brother could put his plan in action.

"Take a shower man, breakfast is in twenty minutes." Chris told him.

Travis headed for the bathroom.

Katie figured it was probably the best time to get up. She sat up and blinked a few times.

"Sleeping beauty awakens!" Connor cheered.

Katie crossed her arms. She could feel her familiar scowl crossing back and settling on her face.

"Take your bag of clothes and go shower." Connor ordered. "We have two bathrooms. Travis is in one, so you can use the other."

Katie jumped off the bed and found her bag under the bed. She grabbed it and hurried over to the bathroom.

At least their bathroom looked normal. It was a little bit like the Demeter cabin, for which Katie was extremely grateful, even though the soap didn't smell like jasmines, and the shampoo didn't smell like lilies, and the bathroom as a whole didn't smell like a rose.

She hurriedly showered and put on some regular jeans and a pink T-shirt. She glared angrily at the choice of color before brushing her teeth and hair, and styling it in its usual ponytail.

**I hope you like it. I will try to update more often.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own PJO.**

**Travis's POV**

Katie looked absolutely livid in her pink T-shirt, and he decided that he just couldn't quit teasing her.

"So how are you doing, Kit Kat Katie?" He asked innocently.

"Don't call me that!" She protested.

"Whatever. Just answer the question." He pitched his voice so it sounded like he was mocking her.

"Travis!" She whined.

"Yes?" He whined back.

"Quit being mean! I'm not having a good day."

"Like, seriously? The day hasn't even started yet." Travis joked.

Katie did the most mature thing that popped up into her mind. She stuck out her tongue at him.

"Ooh, your killing me, Katie!" Travis screamed dramatically.

"I wish." She grumbled.

"Ouch, that's harsh."

"Well, stop bugging me!"

"And how do you propose I do that, seeing as I am not supposed to let you out of my sight for longer than five minutes?" Travis put his hands on his hips.

"You're mean. I don't like you." She replied.

"Oh no, Katie Gardener doesn't like me! What a big surprise! I had no clue!" Travis went on to do a theatrical scene where he faked sobbed and brushed away a tear.

Katie pointedly looked away.

**Katie's POV**

They reached the pavilion, and breakfast started up. Katie got her food, gave a portion to the gods, and then frowned. Why were the tables so high up this time? They weren't this tall yesterday night.

Travis grabbed her plate from her and put it on the table, like he was afraid she was going to drop it, but then he went back to joking around with his siblings, so Katie thought nothing of it. Still, she had a problem of how to get onto the bench. It was almost up to her nose.

She put her hands on it, and pulled herself up, mentally thanking her father for putting her in all those sports that had made her stronger when all she had wanted to do was garden.

She managed to get onto the bench, and then she sighed, because the actual table where she had her food was towering above her.

Travis turned to her and noticed her situation.

"Got a small problem, Katie?" He snickered. "No pun intended, of course."

"Travis…" She groaned.

"Okay, okay, sorry." He got up and walked over to the Athena table. She watched as he talked with this sweet little girl named Pippy (who was, like twelve and thereby older then Katie for now), and then returned with two dictionaries and four encyclopedias.

"Travis Stoll reading? The world must be coming to an end." Pippy laughed.

Travis laughed with her, and then brought them back to the table.

He dropped them with a thud, and then neatly placed them together. He turned and looked at her expectantly.

"You can't really expect me to sit on books!" Katie objected.

Travis shrugged. He knew how to make her dance to his tune.

"You can sit there, or you can always just skip dinner."

"Fine." Katie sighed. "But you're going to have to help me get up to there."

Travis lifted her up and placed her atop the books.

"Hey, Katie, check it out, you're taller then all of us!" Harry, another Hermes child, pointed out.

Katie rolled her eyes and carefully pulled her breakfast onto her lap, so that she didn't have to lean all the way down. She was either too short or too tall!

**I hope you guys like it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I am SOOO sorry that I haven't updated, but I will now. It's really late, and I'm tired, so it might be short.**

**Travis **

He should have realized that when his baby's eyes grew big and red, she was tired, irritated, and cranky. She was not just a little allergic to something.

By the time sword practice was over, Katie had probably yelled at him twenty-five times. Travis was just thanking the gods that Katie wasn't holding a miniature but very sharp sword at all.

The rest of his cabin was heading over to study Ancient Greek, but Travis had already stopped to talk to Connor.

"I'm just going to take her back to the cabin." He mumbled under his breath.

"Good idea, bro." Connor whispered. Even he looked a little bit frazzled.

Travis smiled sweetly at Katie Gardener.

"Katie, I left something back at the cabin." He lied smoothly. "I need to go back for it, and I need you to come with me."

"What is it?" Katie asked suspiciously.

"Oh, just this and that." Travis casually shrugged. As he started off, he waved goodbye to his cabin energetically, as though he was going to see them in five minutes, anyway, but he was just putting on a good show for Katie.

"So, what do you think?" He asked as they trekked along.

"About what?" Katie yawned sleepily. (Was it just him, or did she look cuter when she was tired?)

"This and that." Travis motioned with his hands around him, at the trees and the lake.

"About camp?" Katie started to lag behind, unable to keep up with Travis's brisk pace. Travis slowed down just a little bit so that she could just barely keep up. He didn't want to make her realize that he really didn't need anything super important.

"Sure."

"Well, I like camp." Katie said cautiously. She looked at him curiously. "Why are you asking all these questions?"

"It was only one." Travis put his hands up defensively.

"Still."

"I don't know. Just making conversation, I guess." Travis sighed in relief when his cabin came into view.

"Come on." He sped up just a little bit, to make Katie jog.

They burst inside the cabin, and Travis immediately rushed over to his bed.

"Hey, I can't find it. Oh, hey, Katie, can you wear these pajamas real quick, and see if they fit?"

Katie studied the pink, frilly pajamas.

"I already tried them on. They fit just fine." She announced.

"Try them again." Travis begged. "I have to make absolute sure."

"No." Katie said stubbornly.

Travis sighed. "Look, I'll wear my pajamas, too. Just put these on and come out for me, please?"

Travis's pajamas were mainly a shirt with a hole in one armpit and some old basketball shorts that ran out of color years ago, but he still fit into.

"What are you pulling?" Katie asked distrustfully.

"Nothing!" Travis lied again.

Grumbling under her breath about how much she didn't trust him, Katie snatched up the pajamas and barreled into the bathroom. Determined to keep his end of the bargain, Travis quickly pulled his own pajamas on.

When Katie stepped out again, looking like a little princess, Travis was lounging on his bed.

"Well, they fit!" She told him. She turned to go back into the bathroom to change, but Travis rushed over. He knelt down in front of her and started adjusting her top, like he was a concerned dad sending his daughter off to kindergarten for the first time.

"Wait." He pleaded. "Can you help me look for the thing I couldn't find?"

"What is it?" Katie asked.

"This and that." Travis shrugged. "It's on my bed."

Katie looked at the bed doubtfully.

"Let me go change." She murmured.

"It'll only take a moment." Travis pulled her up. Within a blink, he picked her up and carried her to his bed.

"Hey!" She cried.

"Sorry, but by the time you got up here, it would be December." He mumbled, speaking through her stomach, which was covering his mouth.

He put her down, and then lay down next to, pulling the blanket on top of both of them.

"Travis! What are you doing?" Katie snapped.

"It's obvious that you're tired. Just take a nap." Travis sighed.

"No way!" Katie stood up, but Travis stretched out, barring her way. He put an arm around her to keep her from moving.

The only way out was to climb over Travis and Katie wasn't going to do that if someone paid her a million drachmas.

"I'm not sleeping." She stubbornly sat up.

"Isn't this the part every parent dreads? The part when the kid learns the word 'no'?" Travis teased, pulling her back down.

"Go away." Katie pushed him, but he just tugged her back down. Gently, he began rubbing her back.

She turned away from him, but she couldn't escape because of his hands, holding her in place. She ended up burrowing herself deeper in the mess of blanket.

Travis began humming a soft lullaby in her ear, and it was too much for her. It began lulling her to sleep. Soon, she was fast asleep, in the arms of her most hated rival.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while! I'll try to get a couple of chapters up while I can.**

When Katie woke up, the rest of the cabin was already back. It was dark outside, and Katie's rumbling stomach proved to her that she had missed dinner.

"Good morning, Kit-Kat!" Travis told her brightly. "Or should I say, good evening?" He used his best Dracula voice.

"I am going to kill you." Katie pronounced every word slowly and carefully, to emphasize her anger.

"She's in a better mood already!" Connor cheered. "She's back to just hating Travis!"

Katie turned her menacing gaze on him, too, and he pretended to cower in fear.

Chris rushed in between the three of them. "You two are horrible babysitters." He hissed, before turning to Katie.

"You missed dinner, but we saved some for you." He quickly ducked out of sight and then returned with some cheese sandwiches and some apple juice in a Sippy cup.

"By the way," Travis began casually. "Chiron wants to see you and I and Connor later on before the Harpies come out."

Katie glared at him instead of answering.

"Chiron's orders, not mine!" He protested.

"Have dinner, and then go get changed." Chris suggested. He turned to Travis and Connor, who were already slinking away.

"Before you guys go off to plan your next prank, why don't you tell us exactly what we're supposed to be doing until you guys get back from the Big House?"

Travis shrugged and sat down on Connor's bed. "I don't know. I guess we'll just leave you in charge until we get back."

Connor leaped up onto a chair, so that he was towering above everybody in the room. He stuck two fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle.

"Listen up, everybody! While we are gone, Chris is in charge until we get back."

There were a few cheers, although the boys knew that their brothers were kidding. Having Travis and Connor as cabin counselor's was the best luck any pranksters could ask for!

Katie calmly slipped into the bathroom and pulled off her hideous pajamas. She retrieved some jeans and a bright baby blue T-shirt from her bag, relieved to find something other than pink.

After she was done changing, she went back to the main room of the cabin, where Travis and Connor were waiting for her. Travis handed her a coat.

"It's cold." He offered in a way of explanation before zipping up his own sweatshirt.

Katie didn't say a word, but she pulled it on when Connor opened the door and a blast of cool air hit her.

They quickly hurried to the Big House, and while the boys left her alone, Katie could feel their eyes on her back, watching her like the protective older brothers they never acted like they were. At least, _Connor_ was the protective older brother. Travis…did she really want to think of him as a brother?

Katie shook her head ferociously, forcing her thoughts of Travis to leave her mind as fast as she could.

Connor grabbed her shoulder after a moment.

"Katie," He started gently. "The Big House is this way."

"I knew that." She grumbled, starting up the path that she had walked so many times before. However, it had never seemed so foreign.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for not updating for a while, but I'm back. I do not own PJO!**

**Katie**

After stumbling around for a few minutes, trying to find her way inside, Travis scooped up Katie.

"Kit-Kat, at this rate we would get there tomorrow afternoon." He explained when she protested.

Katie slumped down in his arms, too tired to fight. She was NOT a happy camper. This was the third time that he's carried her since she'd been turned into a little girl. She was NOT in any way happy to be held like a baby again. He didn't even carry her bridal-style, because she was so small. He could get away with holding her the way anyone would hold a baby!

Then again, she was four years old.

"And we're inside." Connor announced, after pushing in the door to let his brother in.

"Chiron, are you here?" Travis yelled. His voice was slightly out of breath. With a sigh, he gently put Katie back on the ground on her feet.

Chiron arrived, looking only mildly exasperated that they hadn't gone to the room where they usually had their meetings, but instead had shown up through the kitchen side door, although he had probably been expecting it.

"Come on." He gestured with his hands for them to follow him into one of the rooms.

It was a room that Katie had never seen before. There a recliner on one side of the room, and a huge, soft-looking orange couch in the middle of it. Travis and Connor immediately sat down on it, but Katie remained standing. One, because Chiron hadn't offered them a seat yet. Two, she couldn't reach the couch, even if she wanted to sit. Not that she wanted to sit.

Chiron smiled at her. "Go ahead and sit down, Katie." He told her kindly.

Katie blew out a tuft of hair from her eyes and then rolled them at Chiron's lack of realization that she couldn't sit down.

Unfortunately, however, Travis decided to help out. He lifted her up and put her on the couch, in between himself and Connor.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself. It's rude to stay standing when someone offers you a seat." Travis smirked his usual smug smirk.

"Well, it's rude to sit down _before_ someone offers you a seat, too, you know." Katie grumbled.

"Hey, we're Hermes kids, what do we know about manners?" Connor added in.

"And yet you're lecturing me on them." Katie was pleased to see that he was stumped. Travis grinned at him over her head.

"Anyway." Chiron cleared his throat and looked at them expectantly. Katie felt her cheeks coloring.

"What did you need, Chiron?" She asked, trying not to sound too immature and childish.

**Travis**

Katie always looked so cute when she tried to act mature, but now, as a four-year-old, she looked absolutely adorable. She looked like an over-achieving little girl who was trying to act like a grown up because she was in a room filled with them, and she was ready to impress.

Travis just rolled his eyes, though. No need to let her know what he thought.

"Well, as you've probably heard, many rumors are being spread about how many new children of the gods are arriving, and that the satyrs simply cannot keep up with the amount of children there are." Chiron began.

"Yeah, so?" Connor prompted.

"Well, we need to start sending campers out in the real world to help bring in some of these overflow campers that the satyrs are unable to reach. One of these children is a boy, suspected of being Hermes' child."

"Yay! Another one for us!" Travis cheered, high fiving his brother.

"So what do you need us for?" Katie encouraged.

"Well, obviously, as a child of Hermes, he has landed himself in trouble for kleptomania. He is currently at the school "Derek's Private School for the Needy." It doesn't sound like the place where a kleptomaniac child would be kept, but as he was an orphan since age seven, the judge of his many cases decided he should stay at an area where many other teens his age need as much, if not more, help than he does. It was a simple matter of how he would take his surroundings. Our satyrs who have met him have said that he is very hard to get near. His only friends are other orphans."

"What's your point, Chiron? I get why you need Travis and Connor, but why me?" Katie snapped. Travis hid his smile under a look of annoyance.

"We believe that he will open up more willingly if you three pretend that you are family, and orphans. It may tug on heartstrings, if we send you in with a sad history of a drunk and abusive father, and a mother who left two weeks after Katie's birth. After your supposed father dies, you two have had to work very hard to take care of your sister, until at last; the government found you and put you there. After all, Katie, many people open up more to children than they do to others their own age." Chiron finished explaining, smiling down at Katie gently, although it was layered thinly over another faint expression of frustration, as though he had been hoping that she would have understood the first out of all three of them.

"Hooray!" Travis suddenly shouted, hugging Katie. "I get my own little sister!"

"Hey, you're going to have to share her with me!" Connor yelled, grabbing Katie for his own.

Katie struggled, but he held her tight.

"Right, Kit-Kat? Travis, Connor, and Katie Stoll."

"No way! I am not going to have the same last name as these two!" Katie shrieked, her face burning a bright red blush of embarrassment. "If anything, it should be Travis, Connor, and Katie Gardener.

"Nuh-uh. It is so not manly for the guy to take the girl's last name in anything. I can't believe you suggested that. Here, Travis, take her. She can be your little sister." Connor shoved her onto Travis's lap.

"No way. You got her fair and square." Travis laughed. He picked her up and handed her back to Connor.

"No, I'm giving her to you. Merry early Christmas, bro." Connor handed her back.

"Quit it!" Katie pushed away from Travis, back into her seat in the middle. "Chiron, what are our last names going to be?"

Chiron smiled a little. "It can be something simple enough. Will Smith do?"

"Connor Smith. No way." Connor made a face.

"Will?"

"Travis Will?" Travis made an "Are you kidding me?" look.

"Robinson?" Chiron offered.

"Travis Robinson. Connor Robinson. Katie Robinson." Travis mused. "I like it.

"Yep. It works." Connor nodded his approval.

"Whatever." Katie muttered.

"Robinson it is." Travis nodded.

"Perfect." Chiron beamed. "Well, we'll have everything ready for you tomorrow morning, so get a good night's sleep."

"Sure thing, Chiron." Travis nodded.

**Katie**

Katie yawned, although she wasn't sure how she could be so tired, after the nap that she had just taken.

"Come on, Kit-Kat." And just like that, again, Travis scooped her up in his arms and carried her, Connor following with a stupid grin plastered on his face.

She made a face at him, and he made one right back. Pretty soon, it became a battle of whose face was the most gruesome.

"You guys, it's really cold outside. If you don't stop making faces at each other, then your face is going to freeze that way." Travis warned, as he shifted Katie in his arms so that the coat was covering her up.

Katie stuck out her tongue at Connor before turning away. She hated to admit it, but Travis's logic did make a teensy-weensy little bit of sense in her mind,

Although, she still wished he wouldn't carry her. Right?


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO! Must I do this for every chapter? Ugh! I'm back, by the way, and I'm really excited. I don't know what convinced me to send them away, but something did. Never underestimate the powers of the gods.**

**Katie**

The stupid nap messed with her whole schedule! After Travis explained what was going on to the rest of the cabin, they decided to go to bed early. And here she was in Travis's bed yet again, amid snores from the rest of the cabin, unable to sleep.

The insomnia bugged her for a little while longer, so she turned on her side and hoped she would fall asleep soon.

**Travis**

As soon as he woke up, Travis grabbed the bathroom. It was very early, and he enjoyed the feeling of relaxation as the hot water luxuriously fell upon him. He got dressed in jeans and an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, and then woke up Connor.

After Connor stumbled out of the bathroom, in virtually the same outfit as his brother, Travis nudged Katie awake.

"Hey, Kit-Kat, you've still got to get ready." Travis reminded her cheerfully. She mumbled something intelligible under her breath as she slid off the bed and into the bathroom.

When they were all at last ready, Katie in a pink dress shirt and white skirt and flat white shoes, her black hair in its usual ponytail, Travis opened the door and they made the short trip to the Big House.

Chiron was waiting for them in the driveway. Travis's mind jumped back to the time that they had tried hotwiring the camp van (it had worked! At least until Chiron had caught them.) And he could see from one glance that Connor was having the same reflections.

"I see that we're all ready and awake." Chiron smiled appreciatively at them, and it was obvious that he had been worried that they would have decided not to go.

Travis grinned right back. "So, Chiron, who's driving the van over to wherever this Derek dude lives?"

Chiron looked slightly put out. "Argus, as always."

Connor pouted slightly. "You mean not us?"

"Do either of you have drivers licenses?" Chiron asked, back to his regular, slightly exasperated tone whenever dealing with the Stolls. Robinsons, now, Travis mentally corrected himself.

"Come on!" Katie forged forward, towards Chiron. "What are we supposed to be doing?"

"Argus will be driving you three to a bus stop, where he will drop you off. You will ride it all the way to Greentown- you will get off at that stop. There, you should be able to see Derek's Private School for the Needy. Go straight there, and head for the main office. Explain your predicament-the orphan one, not the Camp Half-Blood one- and someone should help you. We already have official government letters for you, so they will have to take you in." Chiron explained thoroughly.

"Anything else?" Connor pressed seriously.

"Well, oh yes, we have your 'costumes' ready, and a small bag filled with a few things that three people in your predicament might happen to have." Chiron seemed to be thinking, mentally going through a checklist of what he'd told them and what he hadn't.

"Cool. Where are our clothes?" Travis demanded.

"Follow me, if you will." Chiron led them into the Big House, where three different doors stood ajar. He pointed Katie into one of them leading into a bathroom, and Travis and Connor got two adjoining bedrooms.

Travis looked at the clothes that he was supposed to be wearing. He didn't like them one bit. No fashion sense, whatsoever! Then again, he supposed, there wasn't a lot of room for fashion when you barely had enough money to pay the bills.

He slipped on jeans with huge holes at the knees, the color faded to nearly a nothing. The T-shirt was far too big for him, totally white, with some words that were clearly faded out to something unreadable on the back. He folded up his own clothes neatly, and unsure what to do with them, left them on the bed.

When he came out, Connor was waiting for him. He was wearing an old pair of brown pants that were practically shorts. They were obviously meant to be jeans, but with a few holes, and Connor's height, the whole thing looked too small. His shirt was nearly skin-tight, bright red, with the words "Stay Safe!" barely readable printed on the back.

The twins stared at each other in disbelief.

"Dude, we look homeless." Connor at last pointed out.

"We are homeless." Travis reminded him.

Katie stepped out of the bathroom at that moment, in ripped shorts and a white T-shirt that looked like it could have fit Connor. It draped like a tent around her, and her hair was knotted around a couple times, but still in a ponytail, like she'd slept that way countless times but hadn't bothered to comb it out before either sleeping or after awakening.

"Wow." That was all Travis could say. Katie scowled at him, darkening her tired looking features.

"Good, you've all changed." Chiron appeared out of nowhere. "Argus is eager to get going." He handed Travis an overstuffed backpack that looked ancient.

"Go on." Chiron encouraged, waving them off. "I'm afraid I have to go sort some things out with Mr. D. You'll have to leave camp with only Argus. Good luck, young campers."

"Bye!" Katie called out, waving to Chiron, as Connor herded her out the door.

"See ya." Travis shouted over his shoulder before leaving.

Once they were in the van, Travis opened up the backpack.

"Let's see. Here are our official documents. Connor, don't touch them; we can't afford to lose them. Here's one hundred dollars! Man, I didn't know we saved up that much! Here are a couple of other clean shirts. It looks like this one's yours, Kit-Kat. It's pink! Hey, it's even got Barbie's picture on it. Aww, it looks like we've got a fan in here! OUCH! Okay, okay, geez, it was just a joke. Anyway. Here's a picture of something. Hey, it's us! I think. We don't look like us. What's this?"

**Katie**

Katie grabbed the piece of papers neatly folded in Travis's hand before he could crinkle them up. She neatly undid them and found her own, four-year-old face looking back at her.

"Whoa! It's our history as the Robinsons!" She told them.

Connor grabbed for his, but Travis stopped him. "Can you read them?"

"Yeah. They're in Ancient Greek. Here is mine: Katie Robinson, age four, blah, blah, hair color, blah blah, um, Katie Robinson is withdrawn around new people, and painstakingly shy, rarely even speaking words around others. She is kind and gentle, and a nature lover, along with holding a deep understanding of plants and animals. Although she is seemingly very intelligent, the abuse she received from her father has not left her unscarred; she cannot read or write simple English, and is very hyperactive. Although uncertain, she shows signs of ADHD." Katie finished her report and looked up, holding back giggles.

"These are for us, so we know how to act when we get to the school!" Travis exclaimed. "Chiron's a genius! He even came up with excuses for our problems. Read Connor's next, Kit-Kat."

"Don't call me that." Katie mumbled as she rummaged around the folder. "Connor Robinson, age fifteen, um, Connor Robinson is an extrovert who relies on jokes to get through the day. He is gentle, although not very easily befriended, for he is very suspicious of anyone. He is a jack of all trades, from the many odd jobs he was forced into doing while trying to assist in supporting his little sister, elder brother, and his father's alcoholic ways. He is often bitter when the conversation reaches the topic of his parents, and he is clearly dyslexic and diagnosed with ADHD, presumably inheriting it from his mother, who abandoned the family a few weeks after the youngest child, was born."

"Whoa. I'm deep." Connor chuckled.

"Travis Robinson, age sixteen, um, Travis Robinson is extremely protective of his younger sister and brother, constantly playing the loving father that neither of them truly ever had. He has held many jobs to try and support his siblings, and although he is sharp and witty, his low level of education from missing many days of school to work clearly show in his inability to calmly sit and work. He may be perhaps ADHD, but he is for certain dyslexic, which may be hereditary, as his little brother, and perhaps his little sister, as well, has the disability. Travis is extremely defensive of his parents, holding onto the few memories of goodness that he must have shared with them before his life fell apart. He is used to assuming control, and doesn't cope well to authority, although his heart is obviously in the right place, trying to take care and shield the family that he so meticulously managed to glue together."

"Talk about deep." Travis mumbled after Katie finished.

She wrapped the papers neatly again and handed them to him, who then unceremoniously stuffed them into his bag.

Katie winced. "I was trying to keep them nice."

"I know." Travis rolled his eyes.

"I wonder how long until we get to the bus stop?" Connor mused.

"Another half hour." Travis answered. He wondered how he knew, but shrugged it off.

Katie shifted in her seat so that she was on her knees, the seatbelt still safely around her midsection. She watched the outside scenery fly by, and Travis found himself trying not to laugh out loud. She couldn't see out the window, because she was too small!

She was too cute. Wait! Did he just think that Katie Gardener-uh, Robinson- his own "sister" was cute? He shook his head. He was going to have to squash any more stupid thoughts like that. She was pretending to be his little sister!


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, first I don't own PJO. Second, I know that in the last chapter, I put dyslexia as a disease, but then I switched to a disability. I just wanted to let everyone know, I have nothing against dyslexic people, and I'm super sorry for writing that. I just needed another word to fit in, and since disease was the first one that popped up, I wrote it down. I'm sincerely sorry, and I hope that no one took offence to that. Also, I think that dyslexic people are really cool, and also much stronger than people who can read normally. Please overlook my mistake.**

**Travis**

The bus stop was in view, and they were grabbing their things. Well, Connor grabbed the backpack, and Travis grabbed Katie. Under normal circumstances, he knew she would never allow him to carry her, especially in front of a bunch of people, but she had fallen asleep during the car ride. He couldn't help but marvel at how quickly her sweet eyes began to droop, and even Connor had gently shifted in his seat to make more room for her to sleep comfortably.

"Come on, bro." Connor slung the backpack over his shoulder and waved good bye to Argus.

"Bye, Argus. Thanks for driving us." Travis told him softly, keeping his voice down for Katie's sake.

Argus winked at him from his eye on the tip of his nose, and carefully backed up.

They took their places on the benches, and Connor read the map. Well, he squinted until the map looked blurry and Travis snatched it away from him.

"Twenty stops until Greentown!" Travis bit his bottom lip and looked up despairingly at his little brother.

Connor dropped his jaw. "Twenty stops? You have got to be kidding me!"

Travis shook his head, pointing to the map, from "Uoy Rea Rehe, (You are here) to Tonwgerne (Greentown.)

Katie shifted slightly in Travis's arms, and he handed Connor the map to readjust the way he was carrying her.

Connor glanced around, and saw that there were only four other people at the bus stop, one elderly couple, one man that looked ancient, and one other much younger man. They were all staring at the trio.

"Maybe we should keep it down." Connor nervously suggested to his brother.

"You think?" Travis glared at him.

They sat back down on the benches, and Travis pulled the backpack nearer to him. Years of being a pickpocket, (and being the child of Hermes definitely helped) had given him the distinct impression that the young man was a pickpocket himself. Travis wasn't giving him the opportunity to snatch away his one hundred dollars. That was more that he had ever had in a year, much less a day.

They waited quietly and stayed still, which was a very hard thing for two ADHD demigods to do. They kept expecting a monster to come crashing into the wall, and Travis was practically going over every possible outcome of every scenario that he could possibly think of. What if monsters found him at that stupid boarding school thing? What if Katie got hurt? What if Connor got hurt? What if the kid they were rescuing got hurt? What was his name? What if he refused to come with them?

Katie began to stir just as the bus came rolling into the station. Travis knew he was in trouble the moment he saw it. It was a puny, smaller-than-a-school-bus puny, little orange bus. And it was packed with people.

Some of them got off at the stop, but it wasn't enough.

Travis could feel Katie start to freeze up as she woke up and realized just where they were headed. He squeezed her hand reassuringly as he swung her up and wrapped his arms around her. It didn't matter how much she complained or protested. He was not letting go of her. Connor put the backpack so that just one strap was on one shoulder. He knew from years of experience, too, that pickpockets tended to go for the backpack that was securely in place, rather than the one that was flying all over the place.

They climbed aboard along with the rest of the people.

**Katie**

Katie took a deep breath before entering the bus. She knew that Travis was slightly surprised that she hadn't tried to escape from his hold, but she wasn't stupid. She would get lost. And, she would never admit it to anyone, but she was also slightly claustrophobic, and having Travis hold her was helping to ease her nerves. Barely, but it was still working.

"After all, a plant needs space to grow and to thrive. Put it in a garden overstuffed with other plants, and it would die." Katie could almost feel that quote running through her veins, as though it was poison.

She whimpered, hoping that no one could hear her. Travis did, though, and he turned her so that she was facing his chest. She buried her face into his shirt and breathed deeply, pretending that she was just at home, and his shirt was her pillow.

**Travis**

Well, Katie woke up.

Travis stepped into the crowd, and then at the last minute, turned and grabbed his brother's hand.

Connor looked at him, surprised.

"I don't want us getting separated." Travis mouthed. Connor nodded in agreement. He didn't tell Travis, but he'd been debating whether to grab Travis's hand or not, himself.

The crowd thickened as the flattened themselves against the side.

Connor pushed his way forward, so that he was standing in front of his brother. He pushed the backpack into the side, so no one would be able to grab for it. Then, he let go of Travis's hand, as much as he didn't want to.

Katie turned at the last minute, just before the bus lurched forward. Travis had steadied himself before it had started, so she didn't feel too much of it.

"On to Greentown." Connor murmured, his eyes meeting his brother's.

"On to Greentown." Travis agreed.

"On to Greentown." Katie added her own agreement.

The boys smiled down at her, and she felt a rush of warmth. She quickly buried her face back into Travis's shirt so that they couldn't see her smile.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Travis**

Twenty stops is a looooooooooooong time for a bus to be going. That was all that was on Travis's mind for about thirty minutes. Over time, the bus had emptied out, filled up, and emptied out again. Now, Connor and he had managed to grab some seats. Connor had the backpack in his lap, and Travis had Katie. She had been unusually quiet throughout the bus ride, although Travis could feel her stiffen every time the bus began filling up again.

"Hey." Gently, he shook her. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." Katie mumbled. She glanced out the window. "Are we there yet?"

"Not yet, kiddo." Connor answered. He winced as the bus rolled over a pothole, and the backpack slammed back onto his lap.

"Do you want to switch for a while?" Travis asked sympathetically. The backpack was a lot heavier than Katie was.

"Sure." Connor nodded gratefully.

They switched, and Katie settled into Connor's lap without making any fuss. Connor raised his eyebrow at Travis in question.

Travis shrugged. Something was going on with Katie, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"Are there yet?" Katie asked again.

"We still have thirteen more stops to go." Travis replied.

Katie sighed, as the bus groaned to a stop at a nearly deserted station.

An elderly lady got on. Immediately Travis, being chivalrous, which was a first, stood up so that she could have his seat.

"Thank you." She murmured. Her voice was squeaky with age. "What an adorable little girl you have!"

"Uh, thanks." Travis glanced at Katie sheepishly, who glared at him.

"What's your name, darling?" The lady asked her sweetly.

Katie looked at Travis for permission before answering. "Katie."

"Oh, she listens to her elders! Why, what a wonderful child you are! You remind me very much of my own sister when she was your age, Melinda." The old lady's eyes grew misty in nostalgia. "She was just like you; young, pretty, innocent, with two strong men to take care of her; and of course, a demigod, too."

Connor's arms wrapped around Katie protectively, and Travis froze. "What did you just say?"

"Oh, I'm sure you heard me, son of Hermes."

"Who are you?" Connor demanded, leaping up. He swung Katie onto his hip, and she clutched his arm fearfully.

"Don't you recognize your own sister, dear? I am Lady Persephone, at your service."

**Katie**

Katie gasped. "You are my sister! Well, half-sister. What do you want?"

"I want nothing, not now. I only come to warn you of the dangers that lay ahead. Lady Hera dislikes this boy that you plan to save, and she will stop at nothing to rid the Earth of him. 'Beware the friend, for the foe is your pal.' At least, I think that's what Apollo said. Anyway, stay cool!" Persephone allowed her disguise to fade away, until she Queen of the Underworld herself stood before them.

"Wait! Do you know how to change me back into myself?" Katie questioned before Persephone could leave.

Persephone tilted her head in confusion. "Dearie, you are yourself."

"No, I mean –" She was gone.

Katie sighed loudly in frustration. She wanted to scream. She had been so close to being turned back into her usual age! Persephone should have realized what she was talking about! Or, at least waited until Katie could explain herself.

"Don't blame Lady Persephone for not understanding, Kit-Kat." Connor warned into her ear. "Somehow, I don't think that chick will appreciate it."

Katie turned so that she could whisper into his ear: "Don't call me Kit-Kat, and shut up!"

Travis rolled his eyes as Connor began a dramatic show of being hurt at Katie's choice of words.

"Oh, Kit-Kat…" He continued his dialogue.

"Okay, that's it. I'm going back to Travis!" Katie announced. She had never thought she would ever say those words in her life. This quest was just full of surprises!


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm sorry that I haven't updated in quite a while, but my life has gotten fairly hectic. I'm in plenty of clubs, and they're pretty much leaking the life out of me. Gods, I don't think I've been able to really sit down with nothing to worry about since at least August!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned PJO, don't you think I would have a ton MORE to do? I'd end up taking a one-way trip down to the Underworld!**

**Travis**

Thank the gods! Finally, sweet finally, the bus rolled to a stop in front of an empty bus station.

Travis and Connor leaped up and rushed off, Katie bouncing in relief in Travis's arms.

"We're here!" Connor shouted gleefully. He picked up a map from a counter and looked it over.

"The school isn't too far. Actually, we can walk. You know, save some money." He informed his brother and "sister."

Travis put Katie down and looked over the map, checking to make sure that Connor was right. "You good with saving money, Kates?"

"Don't call me that." Katie nodded her consent.

"Well then, here we go." Connor snatched back the map and grabbed Katie's hand, mostly for the benefit of any passers-by, so no one wondered why a four-year-old was wandering the station by herself.

They were silent as they trooped out of the station together. Connor was in the lead, holding on to the map in one hand and Katie's hand in the other, while Travis followed behind them.

"This way." Connor pointed down the sidewalk, and Travis could see that it lead all the way to an enormous building, that looked like one of those expensive private schools.

"What do the signs say?" He asked, forgetting that both Katie and Connor were dyslexic, for a moment.

"There's definitely a B." Katie tilted her head and squinted. "Or is it a D?"

"Here, I'll ask." Travis turned to a man who had just gotten off another bus.

"Excuse me, but I'm afraid I'm dyslexic. Would you mind telling me what that building over there says?"

"'Derek's Private School for the Needy.'" The man told him.

"Thank you so much!" Travis thanked him.

**Katie **

Katie frowned slightly. When had Travis learned to use manners?

"We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz." Connor sang softly as they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Shut up." Katie told him lightly.

Connor didn't. Katie had to admit, she really wasn't surprised.

"Remember, you're supposed to be quiet and shy around people you don't know." Travis laughed.

"Sure, but, unfortunately, I _know_ Connor." Katie retorted.

Connor rolled his eyes. "And the abuse continues."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Travis**

As the large school loomed into view, Travis took a couple moments to remember how he was supposed to act. The last thing he wanted was to end up caught red-handed.

He could tell that Katie and Connor were doing the same thing. Lightly, he ran his hands over the backpack strap that was sitting on his shoulder.

Together, they walked in through the front doors.

Inside, Travis stopped for a moment to look around.

It looked as though it was like a mix of a school/hotel. There were large windows that lined the walls, and plenty of doors that obviously led to private offices. One door immediately caught his attention, and the sign said, "NIMA FIFOCE," which Travis took to be "Main Office."

"I think it's that door." Katie pointed to the door that Travis had just decided was the one they needed to go through.

"I think you're right." Travis responded.

The three of them quietly walked into the office.

A lady sat behind a desk, but other than that, it was mostly empty.

"Can I help you?" She asked when she noticed them.

Travis stepped forward, pulling their papers out of the backpack.

She skimmed over them before smiling brightly at him once again. "I'm Miss Fitzgerald. Why don't you three take a seat, and I'll call in the headmaster. He'll talk to you three about the rules and the schedule and other important things, and then take you to your rooms. How does that sound?"

Travis smiled nervously at her. "Yeah, sure. Thanks, Miss Fitzgerald."

He turned and saw three chairs by the door that he hadn't noticed before.

The three of them plopped down and waited while the kind secretary got on the phone.

Suddenly, Travis realized that he was very nervous. He'd never done anything like this before, and what if everything got messed up? What if they didn't do it right? There were so many 'what ifs.'

He glanced at Connor, and realized he wasn't the only one having second thoughts. He flashed his brother a reassuring smile and Connor relaxed slightly.

Travis felt something, and looked down to see Katie's hand slowly gripping his fingers. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and smiled as she refused to look up from the ground. At least something would stay the same.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**By the way, I actually have no idea how these homes/orphanages/schools work, so I'm sorry if I get anything wrong or if I insult anyone in anyway by depicting something in an offensive way. Sorry in advance!**

**Travis**

It was a few moments later when a door opened and the three of them were ushered into an office.

It was one of those typical offices that you always saw in movies, with a huge desk in front of a big window, with a trophy shelf and bookshelf lining the walls, and a few pictures of personal things, and one aquarium.

"I wonder if Percy would be able to talk to the fish." Connor wondered aloud. Travis shot him a look, warning him to pay attention.

A short, stocky old man stood by desk. He glanced at the files that the secretary had handed him before looking at the trio over in distaste.

Finally, he cleared his throat and glanced pointedly at the seats.

Travis took it as an invitation and sat down, pulling Katie onto his lap. Connor plopped down on the chair next to his.

"I assume you know why you are here?" The man asked in a haughty voice.

Travis took a deep breath to calm himself. He could already tell he would have problems with this man. "Yes, sir."

"Well, I am supposed to go over the rules and expectations of this place to you. Listen and pay close attention. If you break any of these rules, the punishments can range from anything like writing a couple hundred sentences to being thrown out of this home."

Katie sat up straighter in Travis's arms, and he put them around her.

"Rule number one, always listen to the adult – the teachers and staff, – and do as they say. Number two, don't start fights, or get into any fights. Number three, do not say or do anything that could be taken as offensive to anyone. This means no making jokes about any race, nationality, or sexuality. Rule number four; work hard in all your classes. Number five, you don't go out of your way to make trouble. This rule ties into rule number two. Rule number six, no profanity. This means swearing. These are just the basic rules; the ones that most people tend to overlook. There are more rules, but your common sense, if you have any, will take care of them for you. These rules are rules such as treating others kindly, not talking back to adults, etc."

Katie blinked as the man rapidly ticked the rules off on his fingers. She hoped that the boys were getting it, because she had gotten lost around rule four.

Judging from a glance at Connor's blank face, Travis was going to have to remember all of these rules.

"Now, for the expectations. You are expected to report for breakfast every day at nine o'clock. Then, you have the option to head to your classes. Because you two are close in age and have a young sister, you can choose only one class for all three of you to go too. Then, after classes, there is a short break for lunch, and then another hour of classes. Once the hour is over, at two o' clock, you are free to mingle and do as you wish until six o' clock dinner and nine o'clock lights out. The three of you get one room and bathroom to share, and you are expected to keep it relatively clean and the two rooms must be in good condition at all times of the day. Understood?"

Travis nodded, the only one who had caught the full lecture. Connor's mind had already wandered away, and Katie had gotten lost halfway through.

"Very good, then. Miss. Fitzgerald will take you to your room." With that, the old man turned away from the three.

Travis stood up and quickly pulled his siblings out of the office.

"That was weird." Katie whispered.

Connor nodded in agreement.

"Children?" Miss Fitzgerald smiled warmly at them. "Come, I'll show you too your room."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Well, Christmas has come and passed without any rights from Rick Riordan, so I guess I don't own PJO yet. However, I do own the **_**plot**_** of this story. **

**Katie**

Katie absently gripped Travis's finger as they walked down the halls of the building, following Miss Fitzgerald. She tried to memorize each turn they took, but in the end gave up and let her rebellious mind wander to wherever it wanted to do.

In the end, Miss Fitzgerald led them down a hall to the last door of the place.

"Your room is number two hundred and forty eight." Miss Fitzgerald announced. She looked down at the backpack that Connor was carrying sympathetically. "If you need any new clothes, we have a store on the first floor. It's right next to the main office. I think you saw it?"

Travis nodded to confirm the unasked question. "Yeah, I saw it. Do we need any money for the clothes?"

"No, dear. You can take the clothes out and pay the store back whenever you have the money. Don't worry about it." Miss Fitzgerald handed him a key – presumably to their room – and stepped away.

They watched her walk down the hallway, her heels clicking, until she turned the corner.

"Well, I guess we'd better go in then." Connor suggested.

Travis nodded and turned to the door. He slid the key in, and after a few moments of struggling, managed to unlock the ancient lock.

They stumbled into the room, and Katie couldn't help but gasp.

It was very small, probably just a little bigger than the bathroom back at home (in the Demeter cabin.) There was one slightly large bed, and a dingy desk in the corner, with a plastic chair. There was hardly any room to walk, and it was lit by a dim florescent light.

Connor edged his way to the bathroom, which was barely big enough to walk in. There was a shower, toilet, sink, and one cracked mirror. A dirty towel hung uselessly from the sink.

"Ew!" Katie cried.

"Ew." Travis agreed. He moved to close the door, and almost bumped into the bed.

"Where do we keep our clothes?" Connor asked, looking through the bathroom, and then surveying the bedroom for a hidden closet or dresser.

"Wherever it is, I prefer the backpack." Travis commented.

Katie carefully inspected the bed and blanket, (well, she inspected what she could see,) before crawling onto the bed.

It creaked under her weight, but at least it was clean.

Probably the only thing in the whole room that was.

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" She asked.

"On the bed?" Connor joked.

"You know what I mean." Katie snapped at him. "There're three of us. The bed looks like it wouldn't be able to fit one person."

"You forget, my dear sister, that you are a small little midget, and Connor and I have had plenty of experiences sleeping in tight areas. We'll manage." Travis slid onto the bed next to her.

"Do you want to go get clothes?" Connor asked hesitantly, sitting down on the bed, too.

"We might as well." Travis sighed. "Although, Zeus knows where we'll be able to put it."


	16. Chapter 16

**Does anyone have any preferences for what Hermes kid should be named/what he should look like?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Travis**

Two pink, fluffy towels.

Connor and Travis stared in horror as the employee of the private school/juvenile delinquent center pointed at the only towels they had in stock.

After spending quite a lot of time locating their way to the store, Travis, Katie, and Connor had finally managed to find it. Immediately, they had split up around the small room, digging through for clothing that would actually fit and complement.

The boys had come up with three shirts and two pants each, and Katie had found a couple shorts and one shirt. As they were checking out, Katie had nudged Connor, reminding them quietly about their yucky towel hanging in their bathroom.

And now Travis and Connor Sto-Robinson were debating how much they wanted to remain clean versus how much they were willing to part with their dignity.

"You guys are insane! No one's going to see you!" Katie hissed, signaling the end of their debate.

"We'll take it." Travis sighed, trying not to scream.

The employee hid a smile and packed the towels into the bag containing their other clothes. "Your bill is forty dollars and twenty five cents. For information purposes, because I'm supposed to tell every new kid, on the weekends, one of you is supposed to come down into the store with all your dirty clothes. You leave them to be washed in a bag with your last name and room number on it, and then return in an hour or so to pick them up. Understood?"

They nodded. Katie sighed in relief. She had obviously been thinking that the Derek's school would have just wanted them to live in dirty clothing, like the rest of their dirty room.

"Well, see you later." Connor cheerfully grabbed the shopping bags and yanked his siblings out of the store.

"How much did she say our bill was, again?" Travis wondered.

"Forty dollars and twenty five cents." Katie replied.

"FORTY DOLLARS AND TWENTY FIVE CENTS?!" Travis yelped in shock. "Where are we going to get that kind of money?"

"What kind of store sells clothes for forty dollars?" Connor added.

"That's actually not bad for thirteen clothing items and two towels." Katie remarked. "You two have obviously never been shopping anywhere other than Walmart."

"Don't even get me started on the towels." Travis warned. "But that's beside the point anyway, Kit-Kat. Where are we going to get forty dollars and twenty five cents? It's not like money grows on trees anymore."

"Anymore? Travis, money never grew on trees." Katie informed him.

"How do you know?" Travis asked.

"Because…it doesn't make any sense. Money is made from paper, which is made from trees. So how can money, that's made from trees, grow _on_ trees?" Katie demanded.

"It could happen." Travis shrugged lightly.

"No, it couldn't." Katie snapped in frustration.

"Well, I seem to remember people telling me when I was younger that it was impossible for me to be the son of a god. It couldn't happen." Travis grinned at Connor, who was hiding his laughter.

Katie didn't answer for a moment.

"Shut up." After a sigh, Katie answered and then quickened her pace so that the boys were now behind her.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Okay, I know that some of you think that the story is really going nowhere, but I promise I do have a destination in mind. Sorry if it seems that I'm just kind of leaving the piece to float around and not pulling it anywhere, but stick with me. I just have to get most of the little details out, like how their schedules work and stuff. Otherwise, you know, it really wouldn't make any sense if they just walked into a room and met a guy named Bob who decides to let them in on a little secret – he's a son of Hermes! You know? So, just bear with me, and thanks everyone!**

**PS: More reviews would be really nice and helpful!**

Katie stopped in front of room 248 and waited as Travis pulled out a key. He swore softly in Greek after a few minutes.

"It's not opening." He grumbled. "Why is it not opening?"

"Here, let me try." Connor offered, handing Travis the bag. After another grueling moment, he shook his head.

"We'll just have to pick the lock." Travis decided. "Does anybody have a bobby pin?"

They both turned to look at Katie who shook her head. "I don't wear bobby pins."

"Oh, great. We're locked out of our room and we don't have anything to open the door with, besides a key that doesn't work." Travis complained as Connor dug through their bag, looking for something to help.

"Hey, are you guys having some trouble? Do you want any help?" Someone asked behind them.

The three turned to see a boy around Travis's age, with dark black hair and big brown eyes. He had a mischievous expression on his face, and slightly elfish features.

Immediately, Travis shared a look with Connor. Son of Hermes. It was practically singing out to them.

"Yeah, we'd really appreciate any help." Katie spoke up. Her voice was slightly breathless.

Travis looked down questioningly at her, but she glared in response.

The boy stepped forward and pressed down hard on the door handle. Miraculously, the door swung open.

"Thanks, man!" Connor cheered. "I'm Connor, this is my brother Travis, and my sister Katie."

"I'm Jordan." The guy said. He grinned. "I'll see you around, I guess?"

"Definitely." Travis nodded.

They turned away from each other and the "Robinsons'," walked into their room.

The minute the door shut, Katie rounded on the boys.

"Something's not right." She insisted.

"What are you talking about?" Connor asked.

"I'm talking about Jordan. Something's not right about him."

"He's a son of Hermes. Connor and I can both tell." Travis frowned.

Katie paced back and forth. "No, that's not it. It's something else. I can feel like there's something wrong about this whole thing."

"C'mon, Kates. You've hated us for so long now; you've probably just grown an inner-radar for trouble-making Hermes's kids. That's what feels wrong." Connor suggested.

Katie rolled her eyes. "No, Connor, that's not it. I'm telling you, there's some mistake about that kid."

"He's older than you are, Missy." Travis teased. "And forget about it. We've got to figure out a way to get him back to camp safely without awakening his brute instinct thing that attracts monsters."

Katie sighed and pulled herself onto the bed. "Maybe you're right. I still don't like it though. Just because we have to help him doesn't mean we have to trust him, right?"

"Kit-Kat, if you're that worried about it, we'll ask him the next time we see him if he ever knew who his father was. That should seal the deal, if he claims his dad is dead, or ran away or something." Travis offered. The more he thought about it, the more he felt as though Katie was right. There _was_ something messed up about Jordan.

He wasn't going to think about it, though. As demigods, they almost _never_ got anything easy. He wasn't about to look a reward dog in the ear, or whatever.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. Okay, just a quick author's note, these next few chapters are hopefully going to be filled with a little more action, but please don't be upset if it starts out slow. Thanks for working with me, you guys!**

**Travis**

After Travis compromised with Katie, a sharp ringing noise cut through the silence.

"What is that? A fire alarm?" Travis asked. He leaped up and grabbed the key, then pushed the door open.

Outside, kids of all ages streamed past the door. No one looked panicked, though, so Travis wasn't exactly sure what the problem was.

A familiar face cut through the crowd.

"Jordan!" Travis shouted. Jordan looked over, and then quickly hurried up to him.

"What's the problem?" He asked casually.

"What was that? An alarm or something?" Travis demanded. "Where's everyone going?"

"Oh, right! I forgot you guys were new. That's the bell. It goes off to announce breakfast, the beginning of classes, lunch, the end of classes, dinner, and then light's out." Jordan explained. "Here, follow me. I'll show you guys down to the cafeteria. I'll warn you guys, though. The food here is definitely not made by a gourmet chef."

"Thanks a bunch, man." Connor sounded relieved.

"Yeah. I thought it was a fire drill or something, and that we were all going to die." Travis joked.

"That wouldn't be very good." Jordan laughed. "I'm glad you caught me. Would you mind sitting at a table with my friends and me?"

"That would be awesome." Travis answered honestly. He locked the door and pocketed the key. Then, he slipped his hand into Katie's. She looked surprised for a moment, but he nodded discreetly at the huge crowd they were about to join, and realized she would get lost otherwise.

"So, Jordan. Why're you here?" Connor asked, not-so-subtly.

Jordan shrugged. "Mom's an alcoholic, Dad's a drunk, brother robs banks in his free time…not really my thing, you know? It's a ton more fun loafing off this stupid school then it is loafing off my parents. Do you get me?"

"Wait, you know who your dad is?" Connor asked.

"Well, duh." Jordan huffed.

Travis and Connor both exchanged looks. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you."

"It's cool." Jordan shrugged it off. "And here's the cafeteria."

"Whoa!" Katie gasped.

Whoa was right, Travis thought. The cafeteria was this massive room that had little tables that seated ten all around it. A couple groups of friends pulled chairs from other tables and fit them around bigger tables to make more space. On the far side, a buffet was set up. A long line of pushing and shoving, and probably hungry kids snaked around the room, everyone holding a Styrofoam tray. (It was probably really bad for the environment, even Travis had to admit that.)

In the corner, someone had left one of those old CD players that could be switched onto the radio, and now Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" blasted through the enormous room. It echoed around, which only served to make the noise even louder.

"Let's go eat something." Jordan spoke up. He led the group over to front of the line and neatly slid in.

"Friends of mine, let them through." He snapped when the teenagers at the front shot dirty looks at them.

"I don't like this, Jordan. Let's just wait our turn." Travis suggested.

Jordan's face darkened slightly, but he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Okay, if that's what you want to do. I'll be waiting over there for you." He pointed across the room to a table in the middle of the cafeteria, where nobody sat, even though several students were standing around it.

"Sure." Connor nodded. "Thanks a ton, man. You're the best."

"Yeah, no problem." His face brightened at the praise.

As they stepped into the back of the line, Katie turned to glare at Travis and Connor.

"I _told_ you he wasn't the one." She hissed.

"I feel like we're in some Harry Potter book, with the 'Chosen One' and all that." Connor commented.

Katie kicked at his leg.

"We have to find the real demigod and get out of here!" She insisted.

At the very moment she said that, the song ended and several people in front of them in the line turned around and gave her strange looks.

Travis shot them all a disarming smile that also said _"Oh, this sweet, innocent little girl? She believes in unicorns and fairy princesses, too. Don't worry about her sanity."_

Satisfied, they turned back around. One young lady even smiled knowingly at Katie and gave her a little wink, like "_Oh, that baby girl is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooo cute!"_ (Insert loud squeal.)

"Would you quit it?" Katie finally huffed in frustration when neither of the boys looked at her, or acknowledged her insistence that they needed to find the real guy.

"We'll find him, Kates, but Rome wasn't built in day! You can't just do everything in less than two minutes!" Travis finally caved in.

They waited in silence as the reality of his sentence began to sink in. It was supposed to be a quick a simple, get in, find him, and get out. Of course, nothing was ever simple in their world.

Surprisingly, the line moved pretty fast for trying to feed two thousand mouths. Pretty soon, they were holding trays and walking toward the buffet.

Connor slid on some soup, a sandwich, an apple, a piece of pie, and a glass of milk onto his tray.

After some consideration, Travis put some pasta, a banana, a slice of cake, and some orange juice. Then, to keep up the illusion, he grabbed Katie's tray and dumped some macaroni and cheese, a cookie, and some apple juice. Connor grabbed a huge pack of napkins and put them on Travis's tray, obviously foreseeing Katie dropping or spilling something.

"Come on, let's go eat with Jordan and then go to bed." Travis suggested.

"I still don't like the guy." Katie muttered.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Please, please, please review more! Reviews are like gold! Especially since authors don't get paid for putting their stuff on fanfiction, so reviews are like salaries! And thanks sooooo much for the people who do review.**

**This chapter is for Chloe the hybrid. You always review my stuff, and you're super nice about it! Thanks a ton! And also, there's something else in here, but I think you'll be one of the few to get it. ;)**

**Katie**

They found Jordan right where he said he'd be. Unfortunately, there was a little problem once they all sat down. Just like at Camp Half-Blood, Derek's School for whatever didn't exactly plan for kids shorter than four feet tall. Katie's forehead barely reached over the top of the table, even sitting as straight as she could on the chair.

"Oops." Travis sighed, looking down at her.

She made a face to show that she really didn't appreciate it.

"That's alright, Travis. Just put her in your lap for now. What's was her name? Kitty? You don't mind, do you, Kitty?" Jordan made a face at her that was obviously supposed to be "soothing," like one of those faces a mom would make to a crying baby. Only, this face would probably make the baby start crying harder.

_Keep the act, Katie. You're supposed to be shy._ Katie thought to herself.

Shyly, she turned and looked at Travis, purposely avoiding Jordan's eyes.

"You're fine with that." Travis told her lightly, pulling on his act, as well. He lifted her onto his lap and pushed their trays next to each other.

"Oh, Jordan, it's _Katie_, by the way." He added as an afterthought.

"Whatever." Jordan gave her a lopsided grin as though she might fall for him like all the other teenaged girls in the area probably did.

Instead, she just looked away to hide her disgusted expression. Something _really_ threw her off about that guy.

After that, most of dinner passed pretty uneventfully. Lots of people came up to Jordan to talk about things that ranged from sports to who he was taking to the Spring Formal in three years.

As they talked, Katie eyed the room. She carefully looked over every corner, looking for someone who might set off what Connor so affectionately referred to as her "inner-radar for trouble-making Hermes's kids."

One boy caught her eye, although he didn't set off any alarm bells in her mind. He didn't even have any features that all Hermes' kids seemed to share. He was an average-sized guy, with sandy brown hair, and twinkling blue eyes. His face was perfectly normal, not even a shade of mischief written on it. Still, for some reason or the other, he seemed different to Katie.

She glanced up at Travis, who was talking to Jordan about the necessities of models or something else equally stupid.

"Travis." She bumped him. He glanced down curiously, and she nodded over at the boy. "Who's he?"

Travis relayed the question over to Jordan, who looked over sluggishly, as though it wasn't important. When he saw who they were looking at, however, he sat up straighter. "Oh, he's no one important."

"What's his name?" Katie pressed, forgetting her "introverted" act.

"No one special." Jordan repeated. "That's just some loser named Marvin or whatever. No one really cares. Now, if you want to talk about someone significant, I would suggest beholding right here." He continued on, but Katie tuned out.

Marvin…why were bells going off in her mind? And for sure, they weren't alarm bells.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Okay, I have a poll on my profile, and I'd really appreciate it if you guys would vote on it! Thanks!**

**Can I pretty please get more reviews? I'm not getting very many, and I want to know if I'm doing any good. Otherwise I'll have to start doing that *shudder* I-won't-post-until-I-get-3,000-reviews thing. I really don't want to, so **_**please**_** review!**

**Travis**

Pretty soon, everyone except Katie was done with their dinner. She was staring at that one Marvin guy. Why, Travis had no idea, but he wanted to get back to his room so that they could sleep.

"Hey, Katie, eat something." He whispered into her ear.

Scowling, she tore her eyes away from him and bit into her mac and cheese.

"You look ugly when you make that face." Jordan told her playfully, obviously trying to appear interested in her so that Travis and Connor didn't hate him.

Katie smoothed out her face, but she glanced back at Marvin uncertainly. Something was up, Travis could tell.

"If you're done eating, let's go back to our room." Connor suggested, looking at Katie's mostly full plate.

Katie pushed her plate away and nodded gratefully.

Travis stood up and gently put Katie back on the floor. "Do we have to throw these trays out?"

"Nah, the janitors will get 'em." Jordan said. He stood up too, and Connor followed suit.

"Let's go." Travis gently nudged Katie in the right direction.

Katie didn't move. She was craning her neck to look for Marvin.

Travis sighed and picked her up. She started but then quickly relaxed and went back to her search.

Travis turned his attention back to Jordan and Connor, trying his best to ignore Katie. Once they left the cafeteria, however, Katie started paying more attention to the boys' conversation, so he didn't worry too much.

"Do you need any help getting into your room?" Jordan said helpfully as they reached room 248.

"Probably." Connor admitted. Travis handed him the key, and he tried to open the door before stepping back and letting Jordan do his magic.

"Thanks. See you tomorrow?" Connor asked as the door swung open.

"Absolutely. How about meeting for breakfast?" Jordan invited.

"Sounds great, man." Travis agreed.

Jordan stepped away, and they entered their room.

"He's not the right guy." Connor moaned as soon the door swung shut.

"I _told_ you." Katie grumbled.

"What was that back there? Why were you staring at Melvin?" Connor challenged.

"It's _Marvin_, Connor." Katie wriggled out of Travis's grasp and started digging through the backpack for some pajamas.

"Still. Why were you staring at him?" Travis persisted.

Katie didn't answer, shrugging. She ducked into the bathroom to change.

Travis glanced at Connor and groaned. "Even at age four she's cryptic."

"Dude, you should know by now." Connor replied. "I have no idea what 'cryptic' means."


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Thanks so much for all the reviews! I just wanted some feedback to know if I was doing okay; sorry if I sounded like I was whining. **

**This is an extra-long chapter, because I don't know when I'm going to be able to update next. It's not very action-y. Sorry. **

**Katie**

"Alright-y then." Travis said as soon as she returned from the bathroom in her pajamas. "Let's go to bed. I'm really tired."

"I know, man. It's been quite a day. Leaving camp, coming here, then meeting up with that weirdo guy and Miss Fitzgerald, going to that store, and then meeting Jordan, going to dinner, coming back from dinner – that's all we've done today." Connor listed off everything they'd done.

"When you put it that way, it really doesn't seem as though we've done very much." Travis joked.

He sat down on the bed and helped Katie up.

"How are we sleeping?" She mumbled drowsily.

"Well, we turn off the lights and then lie down and close our eyes, and then –" Connor broke off as Katie hit him.

"That's not what I meant." She grumbled.

Travis turned off the light and stretched out on the bed next to Katie.

"Then what did you mean?" He questioned. "Just lay down and go to sleep."

Katie rolled her eyes in the dark and took his advice. She was careful not to touch either of them. Why was she in the middle, anyway? "I don't want to sleep in the middle."

"Deal with it, Kit-Kat." Travis sighed. "I'm not switching now that I'm comfortable."

"Yeah." Connor agreed.

Katie sighed in annoyance, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. If only she was her normal size…when was that thing going to kick in? When was she going to start growing? Would anyone notice if in a couple weeks, four-year-old Katie started looking like eight-year-old Katie? The mist could only do so much.

Beside her, Connor started snoring softly, signaling that he was asleep. Travis shifted slightly, but otherwise, he seemed gone, too.

Katie sighed. This was going to be a _long_ night.

**Travis**

When Travis woke up, the first thing he was aware of was that they had moved throughout the night. Connor was on the other edge, almost falling off.

Katie, on the other hand…she was snuggled up against his chest. His one hand was on her back, pressing her closer, and his other was underneath his pillow.

_Wonderful_. Travis thought. How was he supposed to get out of this awkward position without waking anybody?

As carefully as he could, he swung out of her grasp and prodded her away from him, toward Connor. Thankfully, she rolled over and he was free.

The first thing Travis did was shower and brush his teeth. He pulled on jeans and a green T-shirt that he had found at the store yesterday. Then, he woke up Connor.

"Get ready, dude. We've got to meet Jordan, and I can't tell what time it is. Watch out, the water's cold." He whispered.

"If it's five o'clock in the morning, I'm going to kill you." Connor muttered back.

After Connor came out, shivering from the cold, Travis woke up Katie.

"Hey, Kit-Kat, it's time to get up now." He shook her gently.

Blinking, she yawned and sat up. "What time is it?"

"I don't know." Travis shrugged. "Connor and I got ready, though, just to be careful."

Katie got the message and forced herself up.

While the brothers were alone, Travis turned and faced Connor. "Do you think she could be right?"

"What?" Connor frowned in confusion.

Travis shook his head. "Remember yesterday, Katie and Marvin? Do you think Marvin's got something to do with our quest? I mean, I was so sure it would have been Jordan, but since he's got a dad that he knows about, I mean –"

Connor nodded as Travis faltered. "Yeah, I know what you mean. You never know though, Jordan's dad may not be his real dad. I mean, he could be a stepdad, or his mom may have even lied to him. My Hermes's senses are tingling. I'm positive Jordan's a Hermes kid."

Travis shrugged in agreement. "Still, Katie's sure that Marvin's important, and she's usually right."

"She's usually right when she's not a four-year-old." Connor sighed. "I mean, I know that she's smart and stuff, but she's still four."

"She's a sixteen-year-old in a four-year-old's body." Travis corrected.

"Besides, how do we know she doesn't just have a crush on him?" Connor added.

Travis didn't say anything, but his mind was whirring. Did Katie have a crush on Marvin? For some reason, his throat constricted when he thought about it. Why was he feeling so weird when he thought about Katie having a crush on another guy?

_Because she's four and he's sixteen,_ Travis decided._ That's why I'm feeling weird; it's because of the age difference. There's nothing wrong with Katie liking him._

He had to stop his thought process, however, because Katie stepped into the room. She was trembling from the cold shower; Travis didn't blame her. It was freezing in that thing!

"Let's go find out what time it is." Connor ordered.

He walked over to the door and flung it open, only to find Jordan raising his hand to knock.

"Oh, hey!" Connor greeted sheepishly.

"Hey. I was just going to knock to find out if you guys were ready to go to breakfast. I know it's only eight thirty, but I figured you guys wouldn't mind if we got there a little early." Jordan grinned.

Travis pocketed the room key. "How do you know what time it is?"

Jordan lifted up his hand to display an expensive-looking wrist watch.

Connor whistled, impressed. "Where did you get that?"

Jordan shrugged. "The store sells them. We can swing by to get you guys some before classes."

"That sounds great." Travis agreed. He gripped Katie's hand as they stepped into the hallway, which was just starting to bustle with activity.

"Come on." Jordan led them. Unlike last night, the cafeteria was mostly empty, and the few blurry-eyed students who were there were very subdued.

"Tired much?" Connor mumbled under his breath, looking around at the almost silent students.

"Don't be rude." Katie hissed at him.

They each got pancakes and juice, apple for Katie, orange for Travis, and grape for Connor.

Just like the night before, Katie sat on Travis's lap. This time, however, she finished her food much quicker, without any distractions.

"Let's go to the store." Jordan suggested after they were all done.

"Yeah." Travis nodded. They trooped down to the shop and entered.

Jordan led them to the back of the room, where a few cheap watches were thrown carelessly into a basket. He pulled out a blue one and tossed it to Connor, and then a green one to Travis.

"Is the kid going to want one?" He asked.

It took Travis a moment to realize he was talking about Katie.

"Do you want one, Kates?" Connor asked, catching on faster.

Katie shook her head and reached for Travis's hand shyly. When Jordan turned around, she shot Connor a look.

"We're taking two watches." Jordan shouted to the store employee, guiding his friends out.

"Sure, whatever." The girl shrugged.

As they began walking away, the bell rang.

"That's for breakfast." Jordan informed. "We're going to go get you guys sorted out for classes, and then we can hang out until they start."

"When _do_ classes start?" Connor asked.

"Sometime when the teacher shows up." Jordan shrugged. "Usually around ten thirty."

"Things aren't very strict around here, huh?" Travis observed.

"Well, it's our responsibility to make sure we get to places on time. It's supposed to be some kind of stupid way to prepare us for real life, I guess. For example, if we don't go to class today – if we ditch, – we won't be penalized, but at the end of the year, when grades and stuff are posted, if we ditched a bunch of times, we wouldn't pass. Got it?" Jordan explained.

"Confusing, but I think so." Travis nodded.

"It's not that bad. I mean, our teachers suck, but at least the classes aren't that long. And, you can pick your own schedule. You guys could go through the same schedule, I'm guessing, because you're so close to age. And the kid's, well, a kid, so it should be fine." Jordan supposed.

They nodded in agreement.

Jordan stopped in front of a hallway. "This is the classroom hall."

**Katie**

They were allowed to take any classes that they wanted, since Katie was young enough not to have to actually do any work, so Travis and Connor poured over the classes.

Truth be told, there wasn't a whole lot of options. There was English, Mathematics, Science, History, P.E., and Foreign Language. That was it.

"What class should we take first period?" Travis wondered.

Something caught Katie's eye. She turned around in time to see a sandy brown haired boy duck into a classroom. She squinted, and through her dyslexia, just managed to make out, "Mathematics."

"Let's do math first." Katie proposed.

"Math, early in the morning?" Connor groaned at the thought of it.

"You're teacher's Mr. Wise." Jordan noted. "I would definitely take math in the morning if it meant getting Mr. Wise! That guy would fall asleep at any time of the day, if it's quiet enough. It's pretty much like a free period."

"Okay, then." Travis marked it into the schedule dubiously. "If you say so."

"Just trust me, man." Jordan nodded.

After that, getting the rest of the schedule was simple.

"Well, let's go." Connor said, after they were finished.

"I'll meet you guys here for lunch." Jordan offered.

"Yep." Travis nodded. "See you."

With that, the Robinsons turned and entered the mathematics classroom bravely.


	22. Chapter 22

**Sorry I haven't updated! This is the first time in two weeks that I've been able to actually get on the computer for more than two minutes at a time. Life has just been getting so hectic! Luckily for me, however, after next week, all of my clubs and commitments cool down. If you guys can all just hang in there until then, I'll really appreciate it. I'll be able to update more frequently, then.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**You guys are the absolute best!**

**Travis**

Travis clicked his pen. Next to him, Connor looked like he was ready to start singing, dancing, screaming, ANYTHING, to get this boring math period done with.

When they walked in, three seats were available. Two were in the front, and one was in the back, very coincidentally by Marvin. Travis was sure that something was up, but Katie ran to the seat by him even before Travis had a chance to say, "wait," that he had to let it go.

And then there was Mr. Wise.

Mr. Wise was an elderly teacher, with gray hair that was quickly balding, thick glasses, a rather protruding belly, and ears that just so happened to be nearly deaf.

"Mr. Wise, my sister, brother, and I are new students in your class." Travis had explained. "I'm Travis Robinson, Katie's in the back, and Connor is sitting over there."

"WHAT'S THAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Mr. Wise shouted. Travis jumped three feet in the air, but quickly composed himself.

"Sir, my sister, brother and I are new –" Travis began again.

"SPEAK UP, SON! WHAT ARE YOU, A SISSY? DON'T BE FRIGHTENED TO TALK TO ME NOW!" Mr. Wise once again yelled out.

Everyone giggled under their breaths as they watched Mr. Wise deal with the new kid.

"Mr. Wise. I. Am. Travis. That. Is. Connor. That. Is. Katie." Travis sounded out, clearly.

"Tonbis? What kind of a name is _Tonbis_?" Mr. Wise cried out.

Travis was honestly at the end of his patience. Shaking his head, he simply walked away and plopped into his seat.

Mr. Wise shrugged and struggled to stand up. "ALRIGHT, THEN, CLASS! LET'S GET STARTED! UH, WHAT PERIOD IS THIS, EXACTLY?"

"First!" Someone called out.

"FIST? YOU MEAN _FIRST_!" Mr. Wise corrected. "WELL, FIRST PERIOD IS MATH, SO LET'S GET STARTED. WHAT WERE WE LEARNING ABOUT YESTERDAY?"

"First is a free period!" A kid in the back of class yelped. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN FIST IS A THREE PENOD?" Mr. Wise hollered.

"How did he get 'fist is a three penod,' from 'first is a free period?'" Travis muttered under his breath in disbelief.

"NO, IT ISN'T!" Mr. Wise bellowed.

"YES IT IS!" Someone else screeched. Suddenly, the entire class (minus the Robinsons) was up on its feet, shouting accusations and confused dialogue at each other and Mr. Wise.

Finally, Mr. Wise opened his mouth. "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! WE'LL HAVE A FREE PERIOD TODAY, AND TOMORROW WE'LL GET BACK TO WHAT WE WERE LEARNING! I can't quite recall if it's a math or free period, anyway…" Mr. Wise mumbled to himself as he returned to his desk.

"Wait, what now?" Connor asked.

"Shh." A girl on his right shushed him.

Everyone shut up, waiting silently. Within about two minutes, Mr. Wise was snoring away.

Travis looked around the room. Kids were passing notes to each other, reading, doing other homework, or making spitballs. No one was making much noise, though, in fear of waking up the teacher.

He saw Katie out of the corner of his eye. She was talking quietly to Marvin, who was grinning back at her.

A wave of feeling crashed down on Travis, but he quickly pressed it down, reading it as…as…protective feelings for a sister. Yeah! Protective feelings for his sister.

Travis turned back to Connor pleased that at least he had figured out what was wrong with him.

Connor looked bored. He didn't have any paper or pencils or pens, and the two of them couldn't read anyway, so passing notes would have been pointless.

Travis leaned down under his desk and grabbed a pen. Absently, he began clicking it.

And so, Travis clicked his pen. Next to him, Connor looked like he was ready to start singing, dancing, screaming, ANYTHING, to get this boring math period done with.


	23. Chapter 23

**Wow, it feels amazing just being able to sit at my computer for longer than two minutes at a time! Thank you so much for being so patient with me. At last, a musical that I was in, "Schoolhouse Rock, Live," is over, and I don't have to spend all my time at those practices! So, without further ado, here is the long awaited chapter!**

**Travis**

Travis felt like singing by the time third period history was over. In three more periods, they would have lunch with Jordan, and be able to forget about class for the rest of the day.

The Robinsons' had had math first, P.E. second, history third, and then would have foreign language fourth, science fifth, and English last.

"Thank the gods we're almost done." Connor whispered to him as he flopped down in the seat in between Travis and Katie.

"Marvin's not in this class." Travis observed. For some reason, he was unsurprised to see that Marvin seemed to share their schedule.

"He has science and then foreign language. It's flip flopped." Katie answered dejectedly.

"Is that why you're actually sitting here next to us instead of running to your new boyfriend?" Connor teased in shock. "Good to know your good old brothers still mean _something_ to you."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Katie hissed in annoyance.

"Class, let's begin now. I'm Ms. Zanderbottom, your foreign language teacher. We'll be focusing on Spanish for the remainder of this term, and then moving on to German. Don't forget, next year you have the option of choosing a language to solely concentrate on, or picking the same lesson, a variety of languages and information from all around the world." The teacher, a tall, blonde woman in her late forties with a calm expression began. She looked over the class carefully.

"I understand that we have three new students today?" Miss Zanderbottom launched into a rapid search of the classroom for the new students.

Travis and Connor stood up, both used to the routine by now. They stated their name and their shy sister's name, before Travis quietly asked her if they could speak after class. Before they had to scurry off to the next period, he would inform the teacher that the three of them were dyslexic and ADHD.

Throughout the entire day they had gotten mixed responses from the teachers. Travis hadn't even tried with Mr. Wise. Ms. Zanderbottom was extremely sympathetic, promising that if they ever needed extra help, she would assist. Mr. Wandermeyer, the science teacher, had angrily told them that he would accept no excuses for their poor work, and that he'd heard that excuse so many times, he could already tell when a student was going to use it.

When lunch time rolled around, the Robinsons' were the first out of the classroom and into the cafeteria.

"How were lessons?" Jordan called as they met up.

"Horrible. But do you even have to ask that question?" Connor grumbled, reaching for some food. He handed Katie her plate, and then she wandered away.

"Where's she going?" Travis asked.

Connor shrugged indifferently. "As long as she stays in the lunchroom, I'm good."

"What schedule do you have for lessons?" Travis asked curiously, turning his attention back to Jordan.

"Dude, you're asking the King of Ditching if he ever goes to school." Jordan replied.

"But I thought you said that you were penalized for ditching at the end of the year." Connor stated.

"That's right. That's why, whenever the teacher isn't looking, I mark myself present in each of the attendance sheets." Jordan shrugged nonchalantly. "My self-appointed title should tell you all."

Travis shook his head in disbelief. "But isn't that really risky?"

"You can't be the King if you don't take risks." Jordan replied. "Let's blow this popsicle stand, dudes. I want to show you my room."

"Can we at least finish lunch?" Connor begged. "I'm starved, and then we have to go find Katie."

"Yeah, where is she anyway?" Travis shoved a mouthful of sandwich in his mouth and stood up, trying to locate his little "sister."

"Finish your food, then we'll find her." Jordan suggested.

They agreed, but Travis was pretty sure neither of them had ever eaten lunch so fast before.


	24. Chapter 24

**Oh my gods, I am so sorry for not updating! I had an issue with my computer, and I just got it finished! Anyway, I'm back. I'm updating today, and I promise I'm already working on the next chapter!**

**Travis**

After eating, Travis and Connor hurriedly stood up and looked around the room, trying to locate Katie.

After a few moments, even Jordan tried to look around, although he seemed far less eager to find her.

"Where did she go?" Connor grouched. "How can she just disappear? I'm mean, she's not _that_ small, and she's not that stupid to just walk away, either."

"Maybe we should go tell Miss Fitzgerald…" Travis wondered. "She'll be able to tell the adults and then they can try to find her."

"Yeah, good idea." Connor agreed. "Shoot, how do we find the main office again?"

"I'll take you." Jordan offered.

"Thanks, man." Connor murmured, sounding relieved.

Travis didn't say anything. His mind was racing, trying to remember where Katie had gone. They hadn't been here more than a week and she was already missing!

They got up and followed Jordan to the door, watching everything out of the corners of their eyes. Maybe someone would look guilty.

Marvin! Travis quickly twisted back around; scanning the lunch room for the kid Katie was obsessed with.

"Marvin! He's not here either!" Travis called to Connor. Connor also turned around, double checking.

"You mean the dorky kid?" Jordan interrupted. "I know where his room is."

"Where is it?" Travis demanded. "Can you take us there?"

Jordan nodded indifferently. "Yup, sure."

Travis bit his cheek to keep from shouting angrily at Jordan. Couldn't he see that they were in the middle of a crisis here? His sister was missing, and she could be anywhere! And here Jordan was just, "sure."

He kept his anger in check, though. They needed him to guide them through the maze of hallways.

As they silently made their way down to Marvin's room, Travis's heart pounded against his chest. His stomach's butterflies instantaneously turned into murderous kangaroos. Something was _very_ wrong. He could feel it.

Before he could turn to Connor, however, Jordan stopped.

"Here's the room." He snapped.

Connor turned to him, surprised at the tone of voice. "Jordan?"

"Sorry, didn't mean for it to come out like that." Jordan apologized. He turned to Travis. "I know your sister is important to you. Sorry for sounding like I didn't really care."

Travis was stunned at the apology, but he didn't dwell on it too much. "It's okay, dude. Now let's go kick some butt and get our sister back."

"Dude, calm down. They could just be hanging out." Connor pointed out. "We'd better take the diplomatic approach before we break down the door."

"Right." Jordan agreed.

"Okay, then, fine." Travis took a deep breath. He turned around and knocked loudly on the door.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, thank you very much. This chapter is dedicated to my little brother, who helped me figure out what to do next. Thanks, bro! You rock!**

**Travis**

No one answered. He knocked, and knocked, and knocked…but no one answered.

"Dang it!" Travis barked. "Gods, now what?"

"Back it up." Connor ordered. Travis complied, and Connor rammed into the door, much to the surprise of the two elder boys.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure that's illegal…" Jordan trailed off as the door gave way.

They rushed in.

"Katie! Marvin! What did you do to Katie?" Travis shouted furiously.

The adrenaline was pumping in him so hard, it took a moment for him to calm down and actually see anything.

When he finally did look around, nothing was as he expected it to be.

The room was just barely bigger than their own, but the bed was overturned, lying on the ground with a big slash through it. Clothes were strewn all over the place, and a backpack lay nearby, forgotten, with imperishable items spilling onto the scuffed carpet. The bathroom door hung loosely on its hinges, nearly falling. Inside the bathroom, the sink was running with the hot water still on, and the mirror was cracked into a million pieces.

Jordan swore underneath his breath.

"Oh my gods!" Connor gasped. "What happened in here?"

"I don't know, but I want Katie with us right now. We've _got_ to find her, Con. I don't like the idea of her hanging around with a guy who leaves his room in a state like _this_." Travis motioned around with his hand.

"Let's go tell Miss Fitzgerald; she'll call the police." Jordan said. His face was white, but his voice was surprisingly steady.

"How are you holding up, man? I know this is probably a nasty shock." Connor asked sympathetically.

"I'm good. I always knew there was something wrong with that kid. I bet he kidnapped your sister! We'd better go down right away. Aren't you guys worried?" Jordan replied.

Travis took a deep breath through his nose and let it out to calm the rage building up in his chest. All he wanted to do was _pound_ Melvin…uh, Marvin, into the ground!

"Darn right, we're worried." Connor agreed. He put a restraining hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let's just get to Miss Fitzgerald."


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. Hope you guys enjoy!**

**Travis**

They followed Jordan at a fairly reasonable pace down to the main office, to not alert any fellow classmates that there was anything wrong. The last thing they'd need was mass panic and hysteria, Connor had pointed out when Travis had started to run.

"Can't we go any faster?" Travis complained.

"Dude, I'm worried, too, but we've got to do this logically." Connor scolded.

Travis bit his lip. When had Connor turned into the responsible one? He needed to take charge again.

"Here we are." Jordan called back to them.

"Right." Travis shook his head and strode right in purposefully. "Miss Fitzgerald?"

"Yes?" Her head shot up and her bright blue eyes took in their disheveled look as she gauged the urgency of their request – whatever it was going to be. "What's the matter?"

"Our – our sister…she's missing. We can't find her anywhere, and we know she's been hanging around this guy named Marvin for a while. We went to his room, and it was a total mess, but there was no sign of Marvin or Katie anywhere. Could you try to – try to find her? Call the police or something? It's an emergency, ma'am. I know my Katie- uh, sister – and I know that she'd never just walk away with some stranger, or even do _anything_ without telling my brother or me first. Please, _please_, Miss Fitzgerald!" Travis's voice cracked in desperation. She had to believe him. She just _had_ to!

Miss Fitzgerald had remained completely expressionless through the entire explanation, save for one sour look at the mention of Marvin. Now, however, she sprang into action. "Alright, then. I'll send out a code 51, missing child to all of our staff, and I'll contact the police. Mr. Bumblebee will have to know, of course, although I doubt he wants to be bothered at this hour…"

"Who's Mr. Bumblebee?" Connor questioned in confusion.

Miss Fitzgerald smiled sadly. "The man you talked to when you first came."

"Him? He's not going to care!" Travis cried out.

"Unfortunately, he's in charge, honey. He's got to know." Miss Fitzgerald replied. She picked up a nearby phone and dialed a quick number. "All staff on hand, please. This is a code 51, missing child, Katie Robinson."

Then, she was one the phone again, this time clearly explaining the situation to an operator for the police.

Finally, she left from behind the desk and knocked on the door that Mr. Bumblebee's office was behind.

"Mr. Bumblebee? We have a problem." She called out.

After a few moments, the door opened up.

Mr. Bumblebee stood there with an unpleasant expression on his face. "Well, what do you need? I haven't got all day, you foolish girl!"

Miss Fitzgerald quickly described the circumstances of why she had to intrude on his personal time, making sure to stress the importance and urgency of it all.

"And this couldn't wait until tomorrow? The idiot girl is probably in her bedroom sleeping, and you've woken up the entire country!" Mr. Bumblebee shouted. He continued to scream out obscenities as he made his way down the main office.

"Hey!" Travis challenged, but Connor once again held him back. "He's helping us, remember?" Connor reminded him

Mr. Bumblebee stormed into the main hall, followed closely by Miss Fitzgerald. At the last moment, however, she turned back.

"You children go on and get back to your rooms. We'll take it from here. After all, it is very near to curfew. Don't worry about it." She sighed.

"It can't be! We just had lunch!" Connor gaped.

Miss Fitzgerald shook her head. "Well, get up early tomorrow and have a good breakfast. I'm afraid I won't be able to pull any strings for you to get any dinner tonight."

"We can't just go back to bed! Isn't there anything we can do? Help search or something?" Travis begged.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Miss Fitzgerald murmured. "Just go to your rooms, alright? Promise me. If you get in trouble, you could be kicked out, and then you two and your sister will be separated forever!"

"Promise." Travis and Connor solemnly vowed.

Miss Fitzgerald sighed in relief and rushed down the hallway to Mr. Bumblebee, who was still swearing at the top of his lungs.

"We'd better get back to our rooms then." Jordan said dejectedly.

Travis nodded, holding in his temper. "How can they just treat us like kids? Gods, she's our sister! We need to be out there looking for her! We're not a bunch of babies!"

Connor shook his head. "We promised, man."

"We didn't swear on the Styx." Travis countered. Thunder rumbled overhead, a sure reminder that it was no light commitment.

"I don't think we should." Connor replied uneasily.

"Don't you care about Katie?" Travis thundered. "She's missing, and this guy probably kidnapped her! She could be hurt, bruised, beaten…or even worse! And you guys agree with all the grown-ups, that they're the best people to look for her? Well, I've got news for you! We're the ones that know her best! We're the best ones for the job!"

He turned and stomped down the hallway back to their room, Connor following closely. He heard Connor whisper a hurried apology to Jordan before running to catch up with him to keep him from going off anywhere.

Room 248 was directly in his view. Without even stopping to acknowledge his brother, Travis threw the door open and collapsed on the bed. He shut his eyes and pretended to fall asleep, knowing fully well that he hadn't fooled anyone, least of all his brother.

Connor changed into his own pajamas and lay down next to Travis. He didn't say anything, but Travis knew Connor was silently reflecting on what he had said.

They laid there in silence, the absence of their little girl weighing heavily between them.


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Yeah, I know that I've done a lot of point of views in Travis's outlook, but I kind of need to keep Katie's thoughts silent until Travis and Connor find her, at least. Otherwise, it would ruin the surprise of where she is. Sorry, Katie fans!**

**Travis**

Travis tossed and turned. He couldn't fall asleep, not that he was really trying to. It was just something to do until morning, when he could go search for Katie again.

He heard Connor sigh beside him. They hadn't spoken once since Travis's outburst, and Travis knew it was killing Connor. He felt a little bad, but Connor just didn't _care_ about Katie. They were supposed to have been protecting her! And they had failed. Miserably.

"Travis?" Connor spoke up softly, testing the waters.

He didn't answer.

"Travis, listen. I'm really sorry. I should've been on your side. I'm worried about Katie, too, but I figured that instead of getting trouble if we got caught, we could just take it the safe way for once." Connor admitted. "I'm sorry."

Travis sat up and sighed. "No, Connor, I'm sorry. I acted like a jerk. I was just too wrapped up in finding Katie that I didn't care about anything else. It was my fault, and you were right. We should leave the problems to the adults while we can. It's just…I don't trust them, you know what I mean? They don't know Katie, and they won't do everything they possibly can to find her."

"You're right." Connor sat up, too. "You know, we're not master pranksters back at home for nothing. What do you say about sneaking around, just to see what the report on Code 51 is right now?"

Travis grinned. "I'd say that's a plan worthy of the Stolls."

Connor jumped up and immediately found a pair of jeans and a T-shirt to throw on. He strapped on his watch and looked at the glowing numbers.

"It's one thirty." Travis whispered, catching on.

"Let's be back by three?" Connor asked.

"Three o'clock it is." Travis confirmed.

Quietly, they opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

It was completely dark.

"Oops, we probably should have thought about that." Connor whispered.

Travis shook his head. "Wait, go back into the room. I know Katie kept a little flashlight-keychain thingie in the backpack. I saw it the other day on the bus."

"You did? I didn't know about that." Connor replied, looking for the backpack.

"I didn't want to say anything because it was Katie's. She'd have taken my head off." Travis whispered.

"No surprise here, bro. You're probably right."

After Connor found the penlight, they stepped back outside again. This time, the strong beam illuminated the hallway.

"Turn it off!" Travis hissed. "We don't want to wake up _every one_!"

Connor obeyed, and they ducked out of sight down the hallway.

Travis took the lead, occasionally grabbing the flashlight and shining it if he thought they were going to bump into a wall or door or something.

They quickly got lost down the maze of hallways. Travis had tried to keep count on how many left and right turns they'd made, but it was impossible to keep his bearings in the darkness of the night, even with the little flashlight.

Finally, Travis turned into a little hallway that only held three doors, two on one side and one in the middle of the other. As they turned to back away from it, they heard a soft noise.

C_reeeaaakkk. _

Travis turned to Connor in a panic, and they jumped out of sight behind the wall.

As they watched, (or tried to,) one of the doors carefully groaned open. It froze, and whoever was behind it stopped to listen in case anyone had heard the noise. After a moment, he or she was satisfied, and the door continued open.

A figure stepped out into the hallway, in full view of the brothers. Travis strained his eyes to see who it was, and got a quick glimpse of dark black hair and elfish figures.

It was Jordan.

"Jor-!" Connor realized it at the same moment, and began to call out to him, but Travis quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

Jordan turned backward and looked around, dead silent. After another moment, however, he shrugged and turned back to where he was going.

"Quiet. Let's follow him and see where he's going." Travis breathed.

"It's _Jordan_. He never follows the rules. He's probably going to the kitchen." Connor complained.

"Well, if he is, then we can let him know we're here. But Katie doesn't trust him, and neither do I." Travis muttered.

"Dude! He's helped us in practically every way possible! How can you not trust him?" Connor hissed.

"Just. Trust. Me." Travis exhaled.

Connor didn't say anything, which Travis took as consent, and they waited for Jordan to move. Strangely, he hadn't gone anywhere. Travis had a brief moment of dread, wondering if he had heard them, but swiftly squashed that idea. They had been inaudible, and he wasn't coming toward them at all.

Finally, Jordan stepped toward the single door across from his room. Without pausing to knock, he threw the door open and then slammed it shut.

Quickly, the boys rushed to the door. Connor shined the light on the sign where the number would be.

Instead of a number, it said, "Basement."


	28. Chapter 28

**Okay, this chapter is dedicated to AmianNatan4ever; I am Nikita Daughter of Apollo; and Annabeth luvs Percy. **** I hope you guys like it! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Travis**

"Count to five." Connor mouthed to his brother, just in case Jordan was right by the door. They didn't know why he would need to be in the basement, but it was best not to take chances.

Travis nodded, his eyes narrowed in distrust. They each held up a finger, and then two, silently counting down until the moment they could open the door.

Travis reached five first, and then before Connor could say anything, he gripped the doorknob and swung the door wide open.

There was nothing but blackness beyond the doorframe.

"I'll go first." Travis offered. He stepped down onto what felt like a rickety staircase before his brother could say anything. He felt around and found a railing, then turned back to make sure Connor had found it, too.

Connor nodded grimly.

With that, they cautiously made their way down the flight of stairs, pausing whenever it decided to groan and moan over their weight.

Finally, they reached the bottom. Travis could tell it was the bottom because a light was glowing, effectively scaring away all the shadows and allowing them to see again.

Travis stopped Connor and they hid at the bottom of the stairs, and then turned back around to take in the sight.

It was an enormous area with only one room as the entire basement, practically a dungeon. It had almost no furniture, and only cement as the floor. Right in the middle of the room was a huge, weird chain-type of thing. Basically, chains extended from the ceiling, and from the floor, and two prisoners were hanging, with their arms stretched up and their feet pulled down. One of the prisoners had sandy blonde hair. It had to be Marvin!

And the other one was _Katie_!

Travis almost leaped up right away to get her, but Connor held him back.

"Wait." He mouthed.

Marvin's head was rolled back, and his eyes were firmly closed. It looked like his breathing was even, but he was unnaturally white, and there was a lump growing on his forehead.

Katie was awake, her eyes wide. She looked fine, or at least unharmed as far as Travis could see. He began to breathe again.

"You _idiots_! I told you that you would have to be careful when working with demigods! You can't leave messes everywhere! What if someone other than those two morons saw? We'd have chaos, and then we'd be found out! Do you really want to be put away in those stupid human jails? Or else this school would shut down and we wouldn't get anymore demigods! Gods, why do I even work with you fools?"

The voice was unmistakably Jordan's.

He stepped into view, followed by Mr. Bumblebee and Ms. Zanderbottom.

"You're the one behind this!" Katie gasped, finally getting a view of her kidnapper.

**Katie**

She was _terrified_, although she was doing her best not to show it. She had been eating in the lunch room with Marvin when Mr. Wandermeyer had shown up. He'd asked to speak with her and Marvin privately, and Katie had assumed he was just going to say something about their dyslexia or ADHD, so she decided not to go all the way across the room to tell the boys just this once.

Big mistake.

The second they'd gotten out of view, Mr. Wandermeyer and slammed his fist into Marvin's head and then run after Katie. She'd managed to avoid him for a few moments, but before she could scream for help, he caught her and pushed down on a pressure point, causing her to black out. When she woke up, she was here.

And now she knew that Jordan was the one behind it all. At least she was right in not trusting him.

He smirked at her. "Oh, is little Katie-Watie scared? Don't be, Kates. I was just going to invite you to have dinner with my monsters."

Monsters? Katie let her eyes scan the group of abashed-looking teachers, and suddenly they flickered from humans to a group of horrendous kobaloi. She gasped aloud.

"What are you doing with them? They'll kill all of us!" Katie demanded.

"Oh, don't worry. They're well-trained." Jordan put his hands behind his head in a comfortable position.

"What are you doing with monsters? What's going on? Who _are_ you?" Katie questioned. What in Hades was going on?

"Well, I _suppose_ I can tell you. You won't be around much longer to tell anyone else, so I guess my secret's safe with you." Jordan chuckled at his own joke, and the group of monsters laughed along with him. It was a terrifying sight and sound.

"I'm a son of Hermes, as you've probably already figured out. You seemed like the smart type. Anyway, I stumbled upon this old school years ago. These monsters had been running it, eating all the demigods who happened to come along. At least until I arrived, it was a pretty chaotic place, and they rarely got any good snacks. However, I made a deal with them. They've sworn on the Styx that they won't hurt me, and I pretty much run this entire place. It's like my own personal castle, and these monsters are like my slaves. In return, I give them the okay with demigods, and they bring them down here. Sometimes, they eat the kids right away. Other times, they might try to fight the kid to build up an appetite, or even once they starved a kid to death. I remember that. That was funny. Anyway, I told them okay with Marvin, but that idiot Wandermeyer decided he wanted to grab you, too. I was going to save you and your brothers until later, when you were a little older, so that you would be ripe and good. Unfortunately, you got taken too early, and now your brothers have gotten a whiff of the problem, and they're trying to find you. They won't succeed, however, and pretty soon we'll have them down here, too. They'll eat all of you at the same time. It'll be quite a feast!" Jordan grinned at her and took a step back.

_He's a maniac!_ Katie thought.

**Travis**

It took all his strength, (and Connor's) to keep him from jumping out right there and then and taking on that rat of a person, Jordan. He just wanted to murder each and every monster there.

Instead, Connor managed to heave him up, and they retreated back up the stairs. It was time to make a plan.

As soon as they hit the hallway, they started running. Hermes must have been watching them, because their feet seemed to be automatically guided toward the correct direction, and they quickly reached their room without getting lost. They barged in and hurriedly locked themselves in.

"We've got to go save Katie!" Travis hissed.

"I know! But we can't go in there empty-handed. We'll just kill ourselves!" Connor reminded him, still panting from the shock of it all.

Travis collapsed on the bed in despair. "What are we going to – OUCH!"

He leaped up and clutched his right thigh.

"I swear, I just felt something pinch me!" Travis shook his head. Connor turned on the flashlight, and Travis pulled back the bed sheet.

There was a huge lump of sheets, all wrapped together. Curious, Travis undid the knots and opened it up.

Lying on the bed, shining proudly, were two long, Celestial Bronze swords.


	29. Chapter 29

**Wow, I'm getting close to the end. I published this on…what? July 21****st****, 2012. And now it May 28****th****, 2013. This is crazy; it's almost been a year! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**This chapter is dedicated to PureFaerie. Happy belated birthday! This is your second present from me!**

**Travis**

"Oh my gods." Connor breathed.

"Where did these swords come from?" Travis whispered in awe.

Connor shook his head in confusion, then gingerly leaned over and picked one up. He clasped it firmly in his hand and looked at Travis. "The balance is perfect. This sword feels like it was _made_ for me."

Travis picked up the other one. It slid neatly in his hand, as though it had been actually manufactured around a hand the same size as his own.

He inspected his sword, and then the bed sheets that they had been wrapped in. Finally, he found what he was looking for.

"Knowing Dad, they probably _were_ made for us." Travis announced. He held up the sheet, where a single footprint made of dirt was stamped, smudged just a little bit.

"Dad got these for us?" Connor sat down on the bed, dumbfounded. "Oh my gods."

"You mean 'thank the gods.' Travis corrected. "Now we have a way to take on Jordan."

"Right. What's the plan, Stan?" Connor gently laid the sword back down on the bed behind him and turned to Travis.

"We'll wait until morning. Try to get enough sleep as possible. After all, we know that Katie won't be…you know…until we're there with her. And we know that Jordan wants to keep everything as hush-hush as possible, so he won't come charging through the wall. Then, we'll go down to breakfast with him. Anyway, we'll confront him about what we saw last night. If he's smart, he'll let them go and stop it all. If not, we'll have to fight." Travis replied.

"Something tells me that Jordan isn't the really intelligent kind." Connor said, slamming his fist into his hand.

Travis didn't reply. Instead, he carefully dropped his sword onto Connor's.

"Hey! What's it doing?" Connor cried.

The swords suddenly began glowing as soon as they made contact with each other. Unexpectedly, they began to shrink. Pretty soon, they were the size of a thumb, and then they attached themselves in a circle, turning into two rings.

"Whoa." Connor muttered.

Travis picked up both of them again, and tapped them together. The rings sprang back into sword form.

"Cool!" Travis grinned. He clinked them together and handed Connor his own. Travis then slipped the ring on his finger and lay back down on the bed. They needed to get any and all of the rest they could in order to do what they needed to tomorrow. Or, well, in the morning. During the daylight. Whatever.


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Hey, more reviews would be really appreciated! After all, reviews are a fanfiction author's salary. Thanks a bunch, you guys! **

**Travis**

Shockingly, he somehow managed to shut his eyes and fall asleep. When he woke up, the watch on his wrist read seven thirty. Groaning, he lifted himself off the bed and turned to look behind him, praying to all of Olympus above that Katie would be lying there, fast asleep.

Unfortunately, all he saw was the drooling face of his little brother.

"Hey, man, get up!" Travis leaned over and shook Connor awake.

"Wha-" Connor mumbled, sitting up. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and glanced at the empty spot between them. "Today's really the day, huh?"

"Dude, get up and shower." Travis replied, ignoring Connor's realization.

Once the two of them were cleaned up and dressed, Travis took a deep breath to calm his jittery nerves. He knew the confrontation would have to be soon. He could barely stand it anymore. Not to mention, his own fear at possibly failing was eating him alive.

"Let's go get breakfast?" Connor asked hopefully.

"It's, like, eight. I don't think breakfast will be out yet. We can go check, though." Travis allowed.

Connor nodded. "True, but it's something to do."

He opened the door and held it open for Travis, who slipped by.

They hurried down the halls, careful to make no noise. Luckily, it seemed that the two of them were starting to get used to the school/whatever it was. They found themselves at the cafeteria without too much of a hassle.

"They're just starting to put out breakfast!" Connor crowed triumphantly.

Travis just shook his head and rolled his eyes, but he got in line right behind his brother. They got their food right away and picked a table mostly obscured from anyone standing right at the door.

It was eight fifteen when they finished eating. Connor scooted back and looked expectantly at Travis. "What do we do now, Travis?"

He opened his mouth, about to answer with a highly-intellectual, "uh, I'm not sure," when someone called them.

"Connor! Travis!" It was Jordan.

It took all of Travis's strength not to turn around and glare at him. Instead, he glanced at Connor and forced a dim smile on his face.

"Hey, guys. How are you doing? I take it they haven't found your sister yet." Jordan panted. He slid into the chair next to Travis and smiled. "That's okay, though! Trust me, you guys will find her and everything will be okay."

"I'm sure." Travis snorted. Connor shot him a warning look.

"Sorry, man. We're just tired." He explained.

Jordan shook his head. "No, I understand. It's probably really hard on you guys, and I'm not making it any better by being Mr. Sunshine and Rainbows. It's cool, bro."

Connor managed a small smile through his clenched teeth. Travis didn't even try.

They sat in silence for a few moments, while Jordan looked over at the buffet table, deciding what to get.

"Hey, do you mind if we talk to you about something?" Connor said suddenly, shooting Travis a look.

Travis nodded. "Yeah, it'll be really quick."

"Yeah, no prob. Let me just grab something to eat." Jordan agreed. He snatched up a doughnut from the buffet table before heading out with them.

They walked out past the main office and into the cool, crisp morning air right up in the front.

"So, yeah, what did you want to talk to me about?" Jordan questioned. If there was any sign of who and what he was last night, it wasn't showing now.

Connor looked at Travis.

"We know where Katie is." Travis said slowly.

Jordan dropped his doughnut.

"What? Where? Let's go find her!" He shouted, struggling to keep his act together.

"She's in the basement." Connor replied. He shot Travis a look of uncertainty, but Travis was no longer caring about what they revealed to this brutal beast.

"She – wha? How do you know?" Jordan asked, tripping over his words.

"We followed you down. And we know exactly what happened last night. Every. Single. Word." Travis spit out.

Jordan stopped looking shocked at that moment. His face became a mask of calm. "Well, then, I suppose you know what I'm capable of?"

"You're not _capable_ of anything!" Connor shouted out furiously. "All you do is sit on your lazy butt and make your monsters do everything for you!"

"Actually, I'm _capable_ of a lot more than just manipulation." Jordan responded. "I can sword fight better than Ares himself."

"Really? You're going there?" Travis gaped. "Are you really that cocky that you think you're better than a god?"

"Then an extremely arrogant, idiotic god." Jordan grinned. "Now, come with me. I want you to meet my monsters."

"We're not going anywhere with you, pal." Connor slammed.

"Well, then I suppose that your precious little Kitty will just be nothing more than what kitties are. Monster food." Jordan warned.

With that, he turned around and raced back into the school.

Travis barely waited a nanosecond. He turned to Connor and slammed his fist into his brother's, then took off without even pausing until the swords had finished their transformation.

Praying to Hermes for strength, once again, their feet seemed to take over and almost flew them down the hallways back to the basement.


	31. Chapter 31

**Okay, the reason that I haven't updated for a while is because this is the battle scene, and I suck at writing out battle scenes. For this, I'm apologizing in advance at how bad this chapter is going to be.**

**Also, another warning. I'm not actually sure what kobaloi are, or what they look like or anything, but I found the name when I was looking through things for Greek monsters, so I kind of envision them to look like humans, only with claws for hands, and a lot bigger and stronger, and with, like, horns on their heads, and stuff like that, like a stereotypical monster-under-the-bed.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Travis**

Travis didn't hesitate. He flung the door open and raced down the rickety stairs into the basement, his brother hot on his heels.

When he got to the end, his heart stopped for a moment. Katie and Marvin, just like last night, were still attached to the chain things, but surrounding them were all of the teachers and adults that Travis had associated with the school. Mr. Bumblebee, Ms. Zanderbottom, Mr. Wandermeyer, Miss Fitzgerald; all of them! And they were all changing.

They weren't regular teachers anymore. They were a group of vicious kobaloi, and they were grinning from ear to ear, ready to prey on the demigods.

"Connor, are you up for a little monster bashing?" Travis cleared his throat.

Connor nodded bravely. "Let's go, bro."

They leaped into the onslaught of monsters. Travis lost sight of his brother almost immediately, but there he was a little busy to worry about that. He slashed out with his sword, and the first monster disintegrated, but another one took its place.

He took a precious moment to look for Connor, and saw that he was ferociously fighting his way through another group of monsters. Travis turned back to his predicament, satisfied that Connor could hold his own.

As he fought, he looked around for Jordan – but where was he? He was sure that Jordan had run down here, probably to be protected by the monsters, but now that they were down here, the jerk was nowhere in sight.

"All right, then." Travis mumbled to himself, catching another monster under the chin. "If Jordan isn't around, let's get Katie and Marvin to safety."

He slashed through the throng of kobaloi to get to Connor. "Hey! Let's get to Katie!" He shouted over the clangs of their swords.

Connor nodded to show that he heard, and the two of them started angling their fighting pattern toward the middle of the room.

Only – why were there so many monsters? Travis was sure that there were only the teachers and adults, earlier. Why were there more monsters now? Or was it just his own messed up senses?

**Katie**

Katie was screaming to Travis and Connor that the monsters were multiplying, but they didn't hear her. Over the explosive sound of the kobaloi, crowding in from the far sides of the basement, no one could hear her shouts of warning. Tears ran down the side of her cheeks as she watched her friends get overwhelmed.

Connor was the first to go. He hit at Miss Fitzgerald, but his strike was sloppy, and she managed to deflect it using her hands, then she raked Connor's chest with her claws. Without any armor, Connor was helpless.

Cheering, Miss Fitzgerald dragged his unconscious body toward Katie, draping his just underneath. As Jordan had said, they were looking forward to a feast later on.

It was just Travis now. Katie would have done anything for a chance to break free of her chains and have her dagger with her. Why hadn't she remembered to bring it from camp? Obviously Travis and Connor had remembered to bring their weapons.

Katie strained against her bounds, desperate to get to Travis before he could be taken down.

_I would do anything for a miracle right now,_ Katie thought, praying to her mother, Zeus, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Hades, gods, even Aphrodite!

_Anything?_ A voice whispered in the back of her mind.

_Anything_. Katie confirmed, without thinking twice.

Suddenly, the battle before her began to swim before her eyes, and everything grew dark.

When she opened her eyes again, the most beautiful woman in the world was sitting on a huge throne, beaming like a supermodel. This time, Katie was prepared.

"Lady Aphrodite." Katie hastily bowed and then looked around. "I apologize for my impudence, Lady Aphrodite, but may we please hurry up? I want to get back to the battle to know how Travis is doing right away."

"Don't worry, my dear. I have brought you to a time loop. The monsters and your boy are literally frozen until you return to the scene." Aphrodite replied.

Katie sagged in relief. She was aware that she looked incredibly disgusting, having not showered since the first day they had gotten to the school, and been surrounded by icky monsters for a while, but at the moment, she couldn't bring herself to care. Her Travis was safe for a while, at least.

And Connor! Connor, too. And Marvin! Yeah, Marvin. Oh, gods, just being in Aphrodite's presence was turning her brain and heart into mush. Stupid love.

Aphrodite smiled knowingly, as though she could read Katie's mind. "Now, I think you have been waiting long enough to return to your full body's strength. I know that I originally planned that it would take a few weeks, but I fear that if you do not become your Travis's knight in shining armor, well…I am pleased to present you with your dagger from your Camp Half-Blood, and your own body."

Katie gasped slightly as her bronze dagger (quite similar to Annabeth's, but with a little difference in design and feeling,) floated down to her. Next, an enormous mirror floated down, and Katie looked at the reflection.

It was like watching herself grow up in full speed. Her facial features went from being a child's to an adolescent's, and as that happened, she grew taller.

As she outgrew her clothes, Aphrodite fit her into firm sneakers, new jeans and a lovely pink top, complementing her skin quite nicely. Her hair folded around itself, untangling and somehow being washed, shampooed, and conditioned, and then being placed in a loose braid, hanging around her shoulders.

Katie felt like a princess.

And with her dagger gripped determinedly in her right hand, her body already shifting into battle stance unconsciously, Katie felt ready.

"Go get 'em, princess." Aphrodite laughed, before snapping her fingers and again darkening Katie's vision.

Back in the basement, Travis saw her almost before she realized she was there.

"Katie?" He asked in shock. Ms. Zanderbottom took it as an opening, but Katie lunged forward and caught her before she could do any damage.

"Aphrodite." She managed.

Travis nodded in understanding and turned to the fighting. Katie whirled around, so they stood back to back in the middle of the circle.

"They're multiplying." Katie shouted.

"Yeah, I know." He yelled back. "Where in Hades is Jordan, though?"

Katie slashed at a monster she didn't recognize and shrugged. "I don't know. He came downstairs at full speed, shouted something to the monsters, and then just disappeared, it seemed."

"Great." Travis struck at another one, and it vanished back to Tartarus.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Humans and monsters alike turned around in confusion to see what exactly this new "AHH!," thing was.

Mr. Wise, the deaf, old man teacher, stood at the base of the stairs, brandishing a long, clearly bent out of shape sword.

"I will kill you all, monsters!" He screamed into the sudden silence.

Then, without warning, he jumped into the crowd of kobaloi and began slashing and striking, just like a demon.

"What?" Katie murmured in disbelief.

"I didn't know we had backup!" Travis cheered. He turned back to Katie and they grinned at each other.

"Ready to fight some monsters?" Travis grinned.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Katie replied.

And with that, they turned back to the monsters, which were all chasing after Mr. Wise. He was clearly the main threat.

Katie nudged Travis. "Let's go get Connor and Marvin to safety, first."

Travis nodded.

They stepped backward and did their best to be invisible, blending in with the shadows of the walls and corners. Carefully, Travis snuck around to the middle, Katie right behind him.

_After we get Connor and Marvin to safety, Jordan has a lot to answer for_, Katie thought, satisfied that they would be getting their justice.

She looked admiringly at Travis. _Even though he and his brother could have run away, could have written me off for dead, could have escaped and threw the whole mission away, he came back. He came back for me._


	32. Chapter 32

**I'm almost done with this story! I can't believe it! I'd really appreciate more reviews, please, because otherwise I don't know how badly or how well I'm doing. (Did that make any sense?)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Travis**

It turned out they didn't even have to wait longer than fifteen minutes. Pretty soon, Mr. Wise had defeated the entire kobaloi army.

"Oh my gods." Travis muttered as Mr. Wise turned to them proudly.

"I knew I still had it in these old bones of mine." Mr. Wise said, grinning from ear-to-ear. He moved closer to Travis. "I'll tell you a little tip – it doesn't matter whether their monsters or demigods, everyone underestimates you when you act like you have a problem, but usually, the underestimation turns out in your favor. Now! Let's get some ambrosia or nectar into these fine young gentlemen…"

He trailed off and pulled out some slightly crushed ambrosia from his back pocket, handing some to Travis and Katie and taking a single bite for himself.

"Mr. Wise…what was that? Who are you? What...what just happened?" Katie stuttered in shock.

"I'm a demigod. Son of Athena, you know? I had this brilliant idea to pretend I was disabled many years ago, and I've been killing monsters at this school for years in my disguise. Finally, now thanks to you, I've managed to get them all! We are free! Free I tell you! Free!"

Mr. Wise wandered away, shouting more things about freedom and the seventh world war, so Katie and Travis dropped to their knees and tended to Connor.

"What? What happened?" Connor sat up almost immediately after eating the ambrosia. While Travis explained what happened, Katie turned to Marvin.

"What's going on?" Marvin demanded, sitting up. He winced at Katie put a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"Don't move. Your broken ribs are healing." She commanded.

Marvin looked at her in shock. "You weren't kidding around when you said that you were actually sixteen years old. Man, are you my guardian angel?"

Katie blushed slightly. "No. Remember how I explained everything about demigods and Olympus?"

"How could I forget? That was the best lesson of my life." Marvin whispered. He reached up and tucked a loose strand behind Katie's ear.

Connor put a hand on Travis's shoulder to keep him from decking the guy.

"Oh, good, the other one's awake." Mr. Wise returned. "I'll take care of him; send him back to camp and all. I'm assuming you three want to get to Jordan?"

"Yes." Travis stood up immediately, holding out a hand to Connor and Katie.

She ignored it, however, and turned to Marvin. "Will you be alright with Mr. Wise? I have to go."

"I – " Marvin began, no doubt with a charming reason for her to stay.

"Oh, suck it up, buttercup; I won't rough you up any more than those monsters did. Besides, your little 'guardian angel' has a demon to kill." Mr. Wise cut in effectively.

Katie stood up. "Be careful with him."

"Sure thing, sweetheart." Mr. Wise nodded.

"Where did Jordan go?" Connor asked quickly.

Mr. Wise pointed down the basement. "There's a really big drain that goes down somewhere. Jordan went down it. Trust me."

"Okay, then. Thanks, Mr. Wise." Travis said, taking a deep breath.

"Sure thing." Mr. Wise repeated. "Ooh! Shiny item!"

Travis grabbed Katie and Connor and hauled them to the area where Mr. Wise had indicated before Katie could object to leaving her new best friend with a man who was potentially insane.


	33. Chapter 33

**Hey, I'm really sorry for not updating in forever, but my parents just decided to take us on vacation, and I've only been able to get internet on my mom's phone, so I haven't been able to write. This is going to be my last update until at least late July, early August, when we return home. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, but I can't control my vacation. I hope all of you guys have a great summer, though! Or winter, rainy season, autumn, or spring, depending where in the world you are.**

**Travis**

Travis imagined that eating too much ambrosia and burning up probably felt something like how he felt after watching Marvin flirt with Katie. His stomach felt like it was about to eat itself, and then have indigestion. Why, oh, Hermes why, wasn't anything simple in life anymore? What he wouldn't give to go back to just drinking from a bottle and not caring about anything but his toys.

Okay, so maybe he never had any toys to play with, but still!

Next to him, Katie looked nervous.

"What's the matter, Kit-Kat?" Connor teased, trying to ease the tension. "Are you scared of the dark?"

"I'm just worried about Marvin. Are you guys sure Mr. Wise is the best person to take care of him?" Katie's voice was laced with concern.

"Well, he's the best we've got, so Marvin's just going to have to deal with it." Travis snapped angrily.

Hurt flashed across Katie's face, and Travis felt momentarily bad, but then his own strained feelings resurfaced, and he stormed down the corridor.

"Whoa, stop there, bro." Connor called.

Travis looked down. At his feet lay the largest drain he had ever seen. It looked pretty much like a drain that might be in a bathroom, or an older building, circular with bars over it so water went down and everything else stayed out. Travis could see the area where Jordan must've slipped through, since the bars were slightly wider around the gap.

"I'll go down first." Travis decided.

No one held an argument, so he slid his feet down and then lowered himself down.

_It's a really good thing that I was good at the arm hang in school_, Travis thought wryly.

He took a deep breath and let go. Almost instantly, his feet touched the ground.

"It's not that long of a jump." Travis called up. "Conner, you'll be fine, but Katie might have a little problem. You're a little short, so you'll have a longer jump."

"Thanks, Travis." Katie shouted back down sarcastically.

"Yup." Travis retorted.

"Alright, Katie goes first then, and I'll come down when Travis gives me the all-clear, no more falling little girls, sign." Connor decided.

"Hey!" Katie grouched.

"Come on, Kates. I'll catch you." Travis sighed. He just wanted to go nab Jordan and be done with it.

"Can you see me?" Katie asked. The nervousness in her voice immediately yanked Travis back to the present.

There was a little gray, but not much light in the dark drain.

"Hang on," Travis replied. He pulled out his sword, and it immediately illuminated the dark, damp, icky drain.

"Go ahead." Travis called.

Katie let go, and Travis caught her smoothly.

"Thanks for catching me." Katie murmured breathlessly.

"No problem. I'll always catch you." Travis replied softly, lowering her to the ground.

They stood there, staring at each other. Katie hadn't let go of his arms, that she'd grabbed when she'd fallen, and Travis hadn't fully let go of her back and right arm, that he'd gripped to steady her.

_Why have I never noticed how beautiful her eyes are?_ Travis wondered, gazing into Katie's green-like-grass eyes.

"Hey, did you miss her, Superman?" Connor shouted from above. "Is that why there's no noise down there?"

Instantly, the moment was ruined. Travis hastily let go of Katie, and she yanked her hands back.

"Come down, Connor, so we can officially say this sight is clear of falling children." Travis yelled back up, doing his best to keep his voice casual.

Of course, at the moment, all he wanted to do was impale Connor.

_I'd better put the sword away,_ Travis thought.


End file.
